A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,101
the first place he’d looked.
He called himself a fool for being so worried and would’ve driven on past it and returned home, assuming she was inside enjoying herself—except he spotted a piece of paper shoved under her wiper that made him curious enough to stop and get out to see what it was.
A group of two men and three women came out of the bar. He could hear them laughing and talking as they made their way to their various vehicles, but the parking lot was quiet otherwise.
He pulled out that paper and turned it over.
I mean it, bitch.
Those four words, written in black marker, took him back. He stared at them for a second, almost unbelieving. Then he looked around to see if he could spot anyone who might’ve left it or seen the person who did.
The three women and two men who’d come out were in their cars, pulling into the street and driving off. It was late enough that most of those who crowded into the Blue Suede Shoe Friday and Saturday nights had gone home.
He shoved that paper in his van and decided to park so that he could go inside. But as he drove down the row of cars that remained, still looking to see if someone was lurking about, he spotted police lights flashing behind the building.
What was going on? A sick feeling came over him as he parked, got out and walked over. Two police officers—one male and one female—were talking to someone who was crouched on the ground and huddled against the back of the building.
As he got closer, he could tell it was Emery.
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Someone had choked her. Not bad enough to kill her, but bad enough to give her a good scare—and make him mad as hell. Dallas couldn’t believe Ethan would have the balls to send someone out here to do what he heard Emery describe to the police, and he was determined to make him answer for it and everything else.
“You should go to the hospital and get checked out,” the female police officer—an Officer Valentino—told Emery after she and her partner had finished taking the report.
Dallas agreed, but Emery wasn’t having any of it.
“No. I’m okay,” she insisted. “I don’t want to go to the hospital. I got a couple of bumps and bruises, that’s all. This was just a warning.”
Dallas had so much adrenaline pumping through him it was difficult to stop himself from dropping Emery off at home and driving to Ethan Grimes’s house tonight. But with Aiyana’s wedding in the morning, he couldn’t leave. Even if he could make it back in time for the ceremony, which wasn’t until midday, she’d freak out if she woke to find him gone. And he didn’t want her big day to start out like that, not now that Emery was safe with him. He could take care of Ethan later—especially because there was no telling what might happen once he got there. The confrontation could easily turn into an altercation, and fighting risked winding up in jail.
The officers promised to get in touch once they had a chance to investigate. As they went inside to see if anyone at the Blue Suede Shoe could identify the man Emery had described to them, Dallas helped Emery over to his van. They’d have to leave her car in the lot and pick it up later; there was no way he was going to let her drive home.
“You okay?” He lifted her into the seat instead of expecting her to haul herself up. He could tell she didn’t have her usual strength. She was so rattled he even had to help buckle her seat belt.
She nodded and attempted to smile, but she was blinking rapidly, obviously fighting tears.
“We’re going to get that bastard. Don’t worry.” He wanted to unclick the seat belt he’d just buckled and pull her into his arms—hold her close until she could stop shaking. That felt like a much more natural reaction. But, at this point, he wasn’t sure she’d welcome it.
She nodded again, and he took off his coat and draped it over her to give her an added layer of warmth before walking around to the driver’s side.
“Wh-what made you come look for me?” she asked as he climbed in, her teeth chattering—more in reaction to what she’d been through than the cold, he guessed.
“I was worried about you,” he admitted. “When you didn’t come home, I couldn’t imagine where you were.”