Need You Now (Love in Unknown) - By Taylor M. Lunsford Page 0,97
of Town Hall. The square was empty. No lights were on over the bakery. Hell. “I’ll call you when I’ve got Mel.”
Gage grunted. “I’m sure she just forgot to call.”
Caine prayed to whatever god would listen that his brother was right, but his gut told him he wasn’t. Now that he was outside, Caine picked up the pace. He was running full out and it still didn’t feel like hew as going fast enough. Every second felt like an hour. He had to get to Mel. Had to see her. Portia might be crazy, but he didn’t think she’d actually hurt anyone. Still, he didn’t want to take a chance.
All of the lights in the clinic were turned off from what he could tell, but Mel’s car still sat in front. He didn’t see another car anywhere on the block, but that didn’t mean much. He started to charge into the building, but thought better of it. If someone was in there, he’d make things worse storming in like a cowboy. Slipping around the building, he let himself through the back door into the kitchen Doc Booth always used as the break room for the staff.
He listened, but couldn’t detect any movement on the ground floor. A board creaked over head. From the direction it came from, they were in one of the exam rooms upstairs. But which one?
Careful to avoid the noisier steps, Caine moved up the stairs as fast as he could. He checked Mel’s office first, but found it deserted. Not good. The hell with cautious. Blood drummed in his ears. “Mel? You here, sunshine?”
“In here!” The voice that answered wasn’t Mel’s. Lights peeked through the crack under one of the doors.
He opened the door carefully. Mel stood at the far end of the former bedroom, hands held up level with her shoulders. Usually pale, her skin now blended in with the pure white walls behind her. He knew she fought for every ounce of calm, but she wasn’t showing fear. Good girl. “You okay?”
“Of course she’s okay.” Portia stood off to one side, a gun trained on Mel. “She attacked me! I had to wrestle this gun away from her. I was just about to call the cops when you showed up.”
Caine moved between Mel and the gun. He kept his voice level. “We both know that’s not what happened, Portia. Mel doesn’t even own a gun. She hates them.”
“That’s not what the registration will say. It’s amazing how easy it is to get a fake ID these days.” His ex-fiancée looked like an escapee from a bad action flick with her slicked hair and bodysuit. Her hand on the gun didn’t waver. Her dad had taught her to shoot at a young age. “Poor little genius girl couldn’t handle her boyfriend leaving her for a better woman. She went to her beloved clinic and shot herself. How tragic.”
He took a deep breath, searching for control. He had to get that gun away from her. If she still had it when Gage showed up, someone was going to get hurt. “No one is going to believe you, Portia. And I’m not going to let you shoot her. Not ever. So why don’t you hand over the gun and we can forget this whole thing ever happened?”
“Why are you defending her? She doesn’t deserve you.” Portia’s body began to shake a little as she grew more agitated. Images of Mel’s lifeless body sent bolts of icy fear through him. “You belong with me, not her.”
“Isn’t that my decision to make?” He took a small step toward Portia. A few more steps and he’d be close enough to get the gun away from her. Break her arm, if he had to.
Portia laughed, the sound maniacal as it echoed out into the quiet house. “Men aren’t capable of making decisions when it comes to getting married. Everyone knows that. It’s up to women to steer them in the right direction. It would have worked before, but you were weak. Now you’ve had the chance to get her out of your system and we can be together.”
“Okay.” Talking sense into her wasn’t going to work. He felt like he might choke on his heart. Every muscle screamed to reach behind him, to take Mel and shield her until he had her out of this room and away from Portia. “Just give me the gun and we can go back to my place to talk about our future together. Can you