Chapter 5

Slate

I t’s not her, I silently reminded myself for the twentieth time since I walked into that cookie cutter two-story house with black shutters on every window. It’s not her, just a passing resemblance is all . It was uncanny really but this woman, Emma, she had long brown hair instead of short blonde hair and she didn’t have the same fire and spunk as Vick had.

Besides, that was six years ago, and I should stop looking for her in every pair of deep blue eyes I encountered. We hadn’t exchanged phone numbers or last names so the chances of finding her were pretty much impossible and I was fine with that. Mostly, I was fine with it. Hell I hadn’t thought about Vick in months, but it was hard not to when she and Emma looked so alike.

“It’s not her,” I said out loud just to fucking stop my mind from going back to that night again. It was without a doubt the best fucking sex of my life and not just because her pussy fit me like a glove. Vick was fiery and adventurous, and she fucked like she was born to do it, took my cock deep and then begged me to fuck her throat. “Shit,” I murmured as my cock stirred to life before I shut those thoughts down for good. I wasn’t sitting outside the Sheriff’s Department to daydream about a one night stand, I was here to keep Emma and her little girl safe.

I volunteered to watch over Emma first because most of the other guys had women and kids to get back to at home. She was inside right now reporting the disappearance of her husband as I had instructed her to do. We’d gone over it three times before I left her hotel room last night. I knew there was a lot she wasn’t telling us about her marriage, but I saw the bruises on her arms and around her throat in various stages of healing and I knew exactly what it was she kept to herself. I’d also seen the cut on his temple and the livid bruising before we put his body in a place it would never be found. She’d cracked him over the head, not realizing that where she hit him was the weakest point in the skull. He’d probably suffered a slow subdural bleed. Maybe medical treatment would have saved him, but what she didn’t know was that the moment he laid his hands on her he was a dead man walking. If he’d not had that seizure, then me and Diesel would have ensured he never laid a finger on his woman or little girl anymore. I’d seen the fresh purple bruise on the little girl’s cheek. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had gone down last night, the asshole got what he deserved. Men like that weren’t just cowards, they were fucking scum of the earth.

Once we were in the hotel room and Emma had gotten her kid settled in, she fell apart. She’d started sobbing about how she should go to the police and confess, but then she said how she had no one to take care of her daughter if she went to jail. Diesel and I sat her down and gave her the cold hard truth. It was self-defense, most judges would understand, especially if there was a history of domestic violence. But given what followed and the fact she didn’t immediately call an ambulance, it’s gonna look premeditated. I didn’t want to freak her out further by saying that while Nevada hasn’t sentenced anyone to death for more than fifteen years, all it would take is an unsympathetic judge and jury and she could be waving her life goodbye, so instead I pointed out that if she confessed now there was a good chance she’d end up doing serious time. Best she could do for herself and her kid was to follow our plan.

Emma stepped out of the squat brick building and scanned the parking lot first before she moved to the street beyond, almost as if she expected to see her husband waiting for her. What she saw instead was me, evidenced by the way she almost jumped out of her skin. Her steps were deliberate, but she walked just slow enough that the little girl could keep up with her. She looked from side to side to see if anyone was watching and then stopped about a foot from where I sat on my bike. “What are you doing here? What if someone sees?”

“Keeping an eye on you two,” I answered honestly. I glanced behind me, other than a few people going about their everyday business no one was paying us any attention, “Remember what we said last night, just act normal, don’t let any feelings of guilt eat away at you.”

Emma sucked in a breath, “That might be easy for you to do,” she paused and shook her head like she was trying to get herself back to the present. “So why are you watching me, who asked you to do that?”

“My Prez. Diesel. He wanted to make sure everything went okay at the cop shop.”

She looked like she was struggling to keep it together but was holding on for the sake of her little girl. Her daughter was looking at me with a puzzled expression, I made my eyes go crossed which brought a shaky laugh from the kid. She stepped forward and looked up at me. “What’s your name, mister?”

I smiled down at the little girl with wild black curls and a contagious smile. “My name is Slate. What’s yours?”

She looked to Emma who nodded before she turned back to me. “I’m Ashlyn but Mommy calls me Ash. Slate’s a funny name.”

I smiled at her honesty. “Slate is a nickname, kind of like Ash.”

“I want a nickname!” She jumped up excitedly, showing no sign that what had happened last night impacted her at all.

“You have to earn a nickname which means I have to know you better before I can give you one,” I told her with a grin.

“Okay. I like turtles, grilled cheese sandwiches, ice cream, scary monsters and princesses.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you, Princess Cheese Turtle, okay?”

That raised a giggle, “That’s silly!”

I gave her a mock disappointed look, “Okay, let’s see if I can come up with something better.”

She nodded, her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Emma leaned in close, careful to keep her voice low for our tiny chaperone. “I don’t need anyone to watch over me.”

“Seem to remember that you called us last night,” I caught her eyes, and she looked away. After the brief easy interaction with her kid I hated to bring her back down to reality.

“Yes,” she said, sounding as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. “I did and I’m grateful for your help, but surely you have better things to do than watch us?”

“This is my job for now, so I have nothing better to do.” My smile brightened as her shoulders sank with disappointment.

“I’m not in any danger, not anymore.” Even she didn’t believe those words which made me curious.

“Are you sure about that?”

She nodded. “As sure as I can be. He was the only threat in my life.” Her words were sad and resigned.

“The immediate threat is gone but it’s not the only threat.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

My gaze slid over to Ash. “We’ll talk. Soon.”

Her lips tugged into an unhappy flat line. “Fine.” She turned quickly and walked away, giving me a good long look at her ass.

Emma was small and feistier than I gave her credit for, but the biggest surprise of all? The round ass and hips that showed off the fact that she had curves in all the right places.

I shook off those thoughts and followed her at a safe distance before I took up residence in the corner that gave me the best view of her hotel room without being too intrusive.