“Please tell me that was just an act. Please tell me you weren’t going to do to him what you did to Bainsworth.”
“Of course not.” She hadn’t had any intention of giving the guy cancer. That would have taken too long.
“You were going to fucking kill him! I can’t believe that, Genevieve.”
Her skin turned icy cold. “I’m sorry. I was trying to help. I realize that seeing what I can do in action might be a bit distasteful to you…”
“You think I’m mad because you have the ability to kill him?” Genevieve had no idea Alex could look so outraged. “I’m pissed because, according to the fucked-up rules of your universe, you’d be sacrificing yourself if you hurt him. You said it was a distraction, but what if you hadn’t been able to control it? You’ve been out of practice with your powers for a while. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe you. Dear God, Genevieve, I don’t ever want to see you in this kind of situation again.”
Though he wasn’t exactly in a sweet and cuddly mood, she couldn’t resist giving him a hug. A protective male was so cute. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m not too fond of it either.”
Reynolds chose that moment to let out a low moan. They looked down to see him blinking up at them before rage contorted his features at the sight of Genevieve in Alex’s arms. “You son of a bitch. You’re supposed to be dead.”
Alex snarled. He let go of Genevieve and reached down to grab the man by his collar. Genevieve winced as he hauled back and threw a punch to the man’s face that snapped his neck back. “That’s for shooting me, asshole.” He punched him twice more, until Reynolds lay limp again on the floor. “And that’s for hurting my woman.” He rose from his crouch and held out his hand to Genevieve. “Was that fucking pure?”
“Nope.” No one but he would understand how happy that made her either. “That was awesome.”
“Come on, angel. Let’s take care of this piece of shit first.” He led her out of the barn and frowned at the sky as she closed the doors and snapped the padlock for good measure. “I’m sure Reynolds must have driven here. You know this area—where would he have hidden his car?”
After some searching, they found the vehicle hidden behind some brush about a quarter mile out. Alex grinned at the sight of the car and practically rubbed his hands in glee. “It’s his cruiser. We’ve got a radio. Time to call the cavalry in.” He paused. “But first, let’s get all of our stories straight.”
15
“Didyou just make the sign of the cross?”
Alex’s aggrieved question, directed toward a wide-eyed deputy, would have made Genevieve smile if she wasn’t feeling quite so miserable.
They had managed to call the cavalry in, or what passed for the cavalry in Harrison, a few old patrol cars and pretty much the entirety of the police force. The dispatcher had been shocked to hear Alex’s voice, and even more stunned when he’d told her where he was. Apparently, after shooting Alex, Reynolds had moved his car to the lake, almost fifty miles away from where he’d actually been injured. The search party had been braving the blistering cold to search in absolutely the wrong place.
The target of Alex’s ire was a young man Genevieve knew by sight as someone who’d been a couple of years behind her in school. He’d been a bit of an idiot back then. Nice to see things hadn’t changed.
“N-n-no, sir.”
Alex pinned him with a gaze so black, Genevieve was relieved that she wasn’t on the receiving end of it. “Are you finished taking her statement?”
“Yes. I’ll, uh, go see if they need any help with that guy.” Genevieve guessed the guy was Leonie. Or maybe the deputy just wanted to be away from her.
Alex sighed and dropped to squat in front of her where she sat huddled on her porch steps. “Did you stick with our story?”
Genevieve knew the others were out of earshot, otherwise Alex wouldn’t have risked asking. “Yes. I said you shot Leonie.” Leonie’s car had been found a little farther west than Reynolds’. Since it had been filled with all sorts of incriminating evidence, Genevieve wasn’t too worried about Alex being formally charged, though she wasn’t thrilled with his decision to absolve her of any blame. She had questioned what would happen when Leonie’s wounds healed quicker than they otherwise should, but Alex had shrugged and said people would just consider it a miracle.
“And you downplayed my injury?”
“I said when I found you, your greatest worry was a bullet crease and frostbite. Nothing a bandage and chicken soup wouldn’t cure.”
“Okay. Good.” He stared at the ground between his feet. “You weren’t kidding, were you?”
“That everyone in that little town hates me? No sirree, Bob.”
He looked up and smiled. “And here I thought the biggest stumbling block would be people who frowned on an interracial relationship.”
“I wish.” She cast an uneasy glance at where the pack of police officers stood huddled together. She didn’t like the way they were staring over at the two of them. “Alex, you need to go.”
He reached out to touch her face, but checked his motion when she flinched back. His hurt expression tore at her heart.
She had to make him understand, and quickly. Whatever hope she’d had that they could ease into a relationship had been steadily demolished when the other people had intruded on their seclusion. “Listen up. This is the real world now. You think you’re going to have a job or a place in that town if word gets back that you were sharing my bed? Be rational.” His job meant so much to him. She’d caught that from him. The man didn’t care how or where he did it, as long as he was a cop.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
