Protecting Macy (Cavanaugh Security Book 1) Read online

  The car didn't slow down after a mile, and it was too dangerous to use a ramming technique in this weather. I was about to pull around the car when the driver lost control on the wet pavement. The vehicle did several spins before it slid into a ditch. “Shit.” I braked safely, pulling up to the edge of the road with my lights on just next to where the car had come to a crashing stop.

  The car below was sitting on a broken tree log, stopping the vehicle from going into a nearby retention pond. “I need an ambulance. The suspect’s vehicle has crashed on the side of the road,” I called into dispatch.

  As soon as I jumped out of my vehicle, so did the suspect. I had to do a double take because the wild driver was a tiny, young woman. She turned to look at me in full fear; her eyes were wide, glossy, and she had blood coming from the top of her face and dripping down the side. She was probably on something to still have the strength to run, but I couldn’t let her get away.

  "Stop," I shouted, but she didn’t listen. In fact, she doubled up her efforts to get away from me.

  Time spent running trails had paid off.

  She didn’t get far; I was on her in seconds, slamming her into the grassy area next to the pond. The mud made it hard to keep her from sliding out of my grasp, but she was too small to fight me off of her.

  "Please stop moving, miss,” I told her. She only seemed to struggle more. "Resisting arrest isn't going to help you,” I grunted out.

  I almost froze in place because I had the worst possible nonviolent reaction to her. My cock swelled like I’d been rolling around in bed with a beautiful woman, not stopping a suspect trying to break my hold. I didn't know if it was the adrenaline or the fact that her round ass was trying to wiggle away from under me and grazing across my crotch, but it wasn’t professional or very helpful. She had a strength that surprised me; must be the drugs.

  She tried to get away from me, but I held her too tightly for her to get away. A sob escaped her throat as she begged, "Please, I promise I won't say anything. Please don't kill me."

  "Kill you?" Did she think I was going to shoot her? Something wasn’t adding up.

  I turned her around and pulled my flashlight to the side, giving us some light. Her face transformed from fear to a bit of calm. She still appeared skittish, but the flailing was gone. She had beautiful green eyes with brown flecks that seemed to shine with the light. I examined her face, and I saw there was a large bruise forming on her cheek and dried blood around her nose.

  "I'm not going to kill you. Why did you run? You could have killed yourself,” I snapped out, panting from our confrontation.

  "He tried to kill me," she sobbed, her eyes looking around the area for signs of others. I saw how frightened she was, a signal to me that she wasn’t lying. I wanted to do everything I could to calm her down. I leaned back on my knees while she lay on the ground. Breathing rapidly, her chest heaved as she attempted to calm down.

  It was then that I noticed her top was ripped open, revealing her barely covered breasts. Realizing what I was seeing was like cold water being thrown on me. I took off my raincoat and covered her with it. She sat up and slipped her arms into it. With a nod, I stood up, then outstretched my hand for hers. She was afraid to stop for me, but I was the person to help her, so she didn’t fight me on it.

  "Miss., I'm a cop. I'm not going to hurt you,” I said, showing her the shield on my chest. She was still shaking, and I didn’t know what was causing it. Her eyes focused on my badge, then they moved back to my eyes. Her eyes widened, and I could see from her disheveled look and broken words that it was more than an accident. I ran my hand along her cheek, making her shiver even more.

  "He was a cop," she shakily replied, her eyes closing softly, then popping back open. Fuck. I needed to get her to a doctor and call it in. A cop? A cold shiver ran up my spine.

  "I need to get you to the hospital and call your attacker in to get the search on for him."

  She shook her head, fear gripping her. I held her tighter, hugging her for a moment before realizing that she’d been in an accident a few minutes ago and I needed to be gentle.

  “Are you hurting anywhere? Anything broken?” She shook her head. I tucked my hands under her and scooped her up in my arms. I needed to get us out of the mud. Where was that ambulance?

  “Put me down,” she screeched, flailing in my arms.

  “Miss, stop moving. You’re going to hurt yourself, and I’m not putting you down. I need to get you to a doctor, and you don’t seem to be in the right state of mind.”

  “I’m not on drugs,” she bit out angrily, looking at me like I’d struck her.

  “I didn’t say that, sweetheart. I said you’re not in the right frame of mind, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” I sat her down on the trunk of my car as I made a call to dispatch on my shoulder walkie. I wasn’t going to leave her side, but I had to get the detectives to come work on this.

  “I’m going to be fired,” she panicked, running her hands through her messed-up hair nervously. That was when I noticed the torn blouse was from a truck-stop diner a few miles down the road.

  “It’s fine. We’ll worry about it later.” God, I was feeling unexpected rage as I looked down at her broken spirit and her bruised face. “Did he actually…?” My teeth were clenched so tightly that I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth.

  She shook her head, and this was my first glimpse of any emotion other than fear coming from her. “No. I stabbed him with the knife I keep for protection,” she said proudly.

  “Where?” I asked. I wondered if he would need to see a doctor somewhere. We could catch him like that.

  “Back five or so miles back. I don’t really know. I was kind of freaking out.”

  I needed that information, too. “I meant where did you stab him?”

  “In his…” she trailed off, and I didn’t hear what she said.

  “Where?” I asked, tilting my ear closer to her lips.

  I felt the heat of her breath against my neck, and I did all I could to keep it together. “His nuts,” she sheepishly replied, looking away from me.

  I made an “O” with my lips. That had to be painful, and the fucker would be looking for a medic so we may have a lead on him anytime now.

  The sound of sirens was coming from the distance, and immediately she tensed up. “Sweetheart, look at me,” I said, grasping her chin. “No one, I mean no one, is going to hurt you, okay?”

  She nodded, her eyes full of unshed tears. Someone was going to pay for this. Things like this were the reason I’d wanted to become a police officer. Her world had been turned upside down by some creep, and it was my job to find the bastard and make him regret the day he was born.

  Fuck, my heart was pounding for her. There was also something else driving me to protect her, but I wasn’t going to examine those feeling right now. “Can you tell me your name?”

  A soft, “Macy Garcia,” peeped from her lips.

  “I’m Sean Cavanaugh.”

  Chapter Six

  Macy

  I stared into my rescuer’s perfect face. His jaw was symmetrical and scruffy with dark hair wet from the rain. An irrational urge to rub my hand against his rough skin and into his hair came over me.

  Thankfully, my present situation brought me back to reality. He was the most handsome person in the world. He shouldn’t be out here chasing bad guys and risking his life.

  Instead, his beauty should be gracing the covers of the books that another waitress Lisa reads during her breaks. She would tell me to get an e-reader and enjoy unrealistic fantasies of the perfect men. I laughed her off because I’d seen the true nature of men every shift and at home.

  I’d been so repulsed by the jerks I knew that I never found men that attractive. That was until this most inopportune moment. He was looking at me, probably wondering if I’d had my head knocked around. I did, but the attraction to him wasn’t coming from my head.

  “Macy, do you have anyone to call?” h
e asked while simultaneously, more than likely unconsciously, rubbing my arm. I swallowed hard because it was causing a delicious chill through me. His voice got deeper as if it was laced with irritation. “A boyfriend, a husband, your parents?”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to call my mom. I really should go to work. I didn’t mean to make you chase me,” I apologized, hoping I wasn’t going to jail. I was beyond ready to run away from this day. It had been a shit storm until he promised to keep my safe.

  “I know you didn’t. What I need is for you to see a doctor. Your injuries are pretty rough.”

  “Thank you, Officer.”

  He smiled at me just as the ambulance pulled up followed by another squad car. I cautiously looked at the other vehicle, but a large older man was behind the wheel. “Just call me Sean. As it happens, tonight was my last night on the force.”

  “Really? Wow. I suppose I was fortunate then.” It came off a million times more flirtatious than I meant it, but in truth, I felt lucky. He didn’t try to harm me even though I was racing like a maniac to get away, and he had done everything to make me calm as he got help.

  “Let’s get you in the ambulance.” He carried me past the two EMTs that were waiting to examine me. I was probably a mess, and so was my life. I didn’t even want to think about my new car and how damaged it was.

  “I’m going to follow behind the ambulance because I will need to ask you a bunch of questions,” he stated as if there was no room for arguing. Then those eyes softened, and he added, “I’m sorry, but that’s how these things operate, you understand?” He stared at me to see if I understood his meaning. Oh goodness—it hit me that there would be officers asking me questions.

  Another shiver of panic ran through me. “I don’t want another cop around. What if he comes back?” My voice was shaking as I sat on the gurney inside the ambulance.

  “I’m coming right behind you. He won’t have a chance. This investigation will be limited to a few because there’s possibly an officer involved. Okay?”

  Possibly? Did he not believe me? Or did he think the person wasn’t an officer?

  “Do you understand me, Macy?”

  I nodded, unsure of my emotions. I wanted to believe in him, but my fear was controlling me. He stood there as the EMT closed the doors. He didn’t move until the driver started the ambulance. Then he rushed to his patrol car and jumped in.

  As the medics examined me, I fell back into the memories of what happened down on that dark road.

  I shivered, feeling his hands grip my shoulder. I shouldn’t have gotten out of the car, but what was I supposed to do?

  “Miss, please calm down, or we’re going to have to restrain you,” the medic said, shaking me out of my memory.

  “I’m so sorry. Can you please talk to me, so I don’t slip back into my thoughts?” I asked.

  “Absolutely, I’m Trevor, and my partner is Jason. Now, what do you like to watch?” We went into a light conversation about television shows until we arrived at the hospital and I felt some sort of relief. Now I wondered if I would see Sean again.

  They wheeled me into the ER with a crowd around me. I felt exposed even though I still had on Sean’s jacket.

  “Hello, I’m Dr. Reese, and this is my nurse Debra. We’re going to make sure you’re okay and feel safe. Your name, Miss?”

  “Macy Garcia.” They looked over the workup the EMTs created on the way.

  “It looks like you’re doing well, but we’re going to run some more tests. There’s one thing I do need to ask…”

  “He didn’t rape me.”

  “Well thank heavens for that, but what happened to you is no less serious, Ms. Garcia. Let us take care of you.” As they worked with me, I hoped that Sean would come in and stay by my side, but he didn’t.

  Now they moved me to a new room, and I was certain that Sean left me.

  Why did I feel so sad about that?

  Chapter Seven

  Sean

  “Grady, I need this car towed to the Cotswold Mansion after Forensics sweeps it,” I informed him. He arrived just as the EMTs did. He was new and a good patrol officer.

  “Sure thing, boss.” He looked up to me since I trained him a few months back. Good kid and great heart. He would do this department some good.

  We shook hands, and I dashed off to my squad car, but then I remembered I should get her purse. Once I pulled that out of the car, I checked for her license, which was missing, but her ID was in there.

  Only eighteen. Fuck.

  I followed the ambulance to the hospital for more reasons than I should have. Since it was my last day, I wasn’t even going to be handling the case other than writing up a report regarding our initial altercation.

  I arrived at the same time as the ambulance. I parked and rushed in as they took her into the emergency room with doctors ready for examination. However, I was asked to wait behind the draped section that blocked her off from the rest of the ER. It bothered me, but I had no right to be there in the first place.

  I had a lot of things to take care of, so it worked out fine that I had to wait to see her. I double-checked with the tow truck company we used to make sure they had the correct address, then I had to call my dad. His help would be crucial in this.

  “Hey, son, what’s going on? Is everything okay?” He knew I was on my last shift, so I probably had him freaking out.

  “I need you to do me a huge favor. I’m having a car towed to Cotswold. Can you let them in and leave the car right next to the garage?”

  “Sure. When?”

  “I’d say they’ll be there in less than an hour.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in thirty. Is there anything I need to know?” The suspicion was evident in his voice. It was the old detective in him that craved more information.

  “No. It’s a work incident, but it requires discretion. I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.”

  “Fine. Be safe, son.”

  I hung up with my dad and called the station. This matter required the least amount of people being aware of the situation. I might not have liked my colleagues, but some of them weren’t as shitty as the sheriff. I’d just gotten off the phone with Grady, and the forensic team went to the area Macy had described to me. They called to say that visibility was zilch. They would return at first light, hoping the rain stayed away.

  One of the nurses came up to me. “Officer, we’re going to be moving Ms. Garcia to a room with a shower after the doctors have completed their exams. They will get you when everything is completed.”

  “Thank you.”

  She nodded and scurried back down the hall to tend to her patients. I took a seat and thought about the sweet Macy and the bastard who attacked her.

  Undersheriff John McManus walked up to me, and I jumped to my feet to greet him. I ended up requesting that the undersheriff take the report, and he got to the hospital in record time.

  “What’s going on, Sean?” he asked, tilting his head toward the closed ER entryway.

  “We have an eighteen-year-old female who had been speeding down the road. I gave chase, but she didn’t stop until she slid off the road. She tried to run, and I regrettably tackled her.” I felt like a dick about that, but how was I supposed to know what she’d been through?

  “Is she hopped up on something?” he questioned, ready to make a report.

  “No. Actually, we have a much bigger problem.” I pulled him off to the side and said, “She claims that she’d been attacked earlier by a man who was an officer.” He gasped and ran his hand over his mouth slowly, letting out a harsh breath afterward.

  “Dispatch said to get down here, but they didn’t tell me what happened. I can understand why you kept it hush,” he hissed.

  “She made me give chase because she was scared. When I turned her over, her blouse was torn open and her face bruised. The mud made it harder to see all the injuries, but this bastard fucked her up.”

  “Damn. Did she give a description?”
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  I shook my head. “Not yet. We were waiting on that, but she did injure the suspect. We need to be looking out for a man with a stab wound to his sack.”

  “Are you serious?” he asked, cringing and grabbing his nuts in the process. The same internal reaction I had. The thought of a nut shot was painful, but what I wanted to do to that monster would pale in comparison. I had an eerie feeling about the attacker. We’d had a rash of missing girls in the area over the past two years. As of now, three bodies had been found with no trace evidence on their bodies.

  “Yep. It’s the only thing that saved her from whatever the bastard had planned.” We both looked at her because we knew she had been extremely fortunate.

  “I’d hate to think it was one of our own, but there’s a possibility the person wasn’t impersonating an officer. We’ll need to talk to her as soon as they’re done.” Some predators pretend to be law enforcement to get their prey to do as they say. This could have been what occurred with Macy.

  “That’s what I’m waiting for,” I explained. It wasn’t the whole truth, but fuck if I cared.

  “I can handle it now. Remember this was your last day, and you’re overdue at the station with your vehicle,” he reminded me.

  “Yes, but I told her I would still be here,” I added. “She’s scared that he may show up as one of the officers. And I can’t say I blame her.”

  “Shit. I forgot; she’s going to have some fucked-up opinions and fears about us. Yeah, stay put for now.”

  I gave him a nod and waited silently for the doctor and the nurse to come out of her room.

  They approached us as it was an active investigation and her results were pertinent to the case. The doctor was the first to speak. “She’s going to be okay physically. She has several bruises to her head and a couple of superficial lacerations. She informed us that he fondled her, but she wasn’t sexually penetrated. She can be released after we get her paperwork together.”