Fallen Angels

Shaken, Angel started to slam the phone back down, and then she heard, “Bitch. Give me what I want.”

The rasping tones didn’t sound human and her blood rushed from her head, leaving her dizzy. “I don’t know what you want,” she said, her voice shaking despite her efforts to sound unaffected.

“Yes, you do.” There was a laugh, taunting and high-pitched. “You’re not as innocent as you like to pretend, Angel Morton. But your time is up. Do you hear me?”

“I’m hanging up now,” she said, determined not to let the caller get the upper hand.

“Did you get my letter? I know where you are now. You better watch your back…”

Angel slammed the phone into the cradle. Her heart was beating so hard, it rocked her body and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself. She was only marginally aware of the water dripping from her hair down her back, leaving a puddle on the floor. Goose bumps rose on her skin, but she was frozen, unable to move.

When the knock sounded on the door, she let out a startled, short scream, jumping back two steps and bumping into the kitchen table. A chair tipped over and crashed to the floor. Grayson woke, his disgruntled wail piercing in the otherwise leaden silence.

She heard Derek call out, “Angel!” at the same time a key sounded in the lock. The door immediately swung open. She couldn’t help herself, she gaped at him. How had he known to show up just when she needed him most?

In the next instant, doubt surfaced, and she had to wonder if it was a coincidence, or part of a plan. Was it possible he was working with his family to drive her away? Had she inadvertently stepped into the lion’s den?

Derek stormed in like an avenging angel, took one look at her standing there with nothing more than the towel covering her, then crossed the room with long, angry strides. He grabbed her shoulders. “What’s the matter? What’s happened?”

Angel managed to shake herself out of her stupor. She clutched at her towel with a fist. “What are you doing here?”

He looked nonplussed by her calm question and tightened his hands on her. “I wanted to see you.” His head turned in the direction of Grayson’s wails and a fierce frown formed. “You’re both okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

“But you screamed.” He turned back to her, raised one hand when she started to speak, then shook his head. “First things first. Go get dried off. I’ll get the baby.”

She was shaking all over, but he thankfully didn’t comment on it. “Thank you. I think the phone disturbed him, and then your knock…”

Derek started her toward her bedroom with a gentle push. “I understand, babe. Go. We’ll talk about it in a minute.”

Regardless of what he’d said, Angel followed Derek into the baby’s room and made certain everything was all right. She never let Grayson cry, and even now, when she was so rattled, she couldn’t stand to hear him upset. Derek cradled him close to his chest, rocking him, murmuring to him, and Grayson immediately began to quiet, his yells turning into hiccups as he recognized his father’s scent and voice. Derek held his face close to the baby’s, nuzzling, kissing his tiny ear, his cheek, smoothing his large hand up and down Grayson’s back. Angel’s throat felt tight and her chest restricted.

He turned suddenly when he realized Angel had followed him. Slowly, his gaze ran the length of her, lingering, she knew, on the still harsh scars of her left leg. His attention returned to the baby. “Go get something on, Angel, before you catch cold.”

She wondered if her leg repulsed him; his voice had sounded unusually gruff and low. It really was ugly and overall she looked like a drowned rat at the moment. “All right. I’ll…I’ll be right back.”

In the bathroom again, she quickly dried off, dragged a comb through her tangled hair, then shrugged into her housecoat. It was long and thick and covered her from head to toe. She hurried back in to Grayson. The baby now had his entire fist stuffed in his mouth, sucking loudly. She knew from experience that would only suffice for so long.

“Let me have him. After I nurse him, he should fall back to sleep.”

Derek gave her a long look before nodding. “Let me change him first.”

He disappeared into the other room and Angel paced. The letter this afternoon, then the phone call…. It was the first time she’d heard a voice. Usually the calls consisted of heavy breathing and ominous silences. Again, chills ran up her arms and she ducked her head, her brain working furiously. Mick was right; she had to trust Derek, had to tell him of her suspicions. But she wouldn’t tell him everything. She’d only confide about the most recent events. After she saw how he reacted to that, then she’d consider telling him the rest.

When he touched her shoulder, she again jumped, whirling about to face him, her hand pressed to her throat. His expression was dark, his eyes narrowed, and she tried a nervous laugh.

“I’m sorry. You startled me.”

“Obviously. But we’ll talk about that in a minute.”

She took the baby, quickly settled herself on the couch and then looked at Derek. He always left the room when she nursed Grayson, giving her the privacy she needed, but this time he stared right back. Slowly, his gaze never leaving her face, he took the chair opposite her. Heat bloomed inside her. “Derek…”

“No more secrets, Angel.”

Grayson rooted against her, anxious for his meal, and she knew, judging by Derek’s expression, arguing would gain her nothing. She pulled her gaze away from him, deliberately ignoring his very attentive audience, and went about feeding her baby. She felt stiff, unable to relax, so many things racing through her mind.

After a moment, Derek rose from his chair and reseated himself beside her. The soft, worn cushions of the couch slumped with his weight and her hip rolled next to his, bumping into him. He felt warm and hard, his presence overwhelming. Angel was acutely aware of his undivided concentration on her breast. She kept her visual attention firmly placed on Grayson.

Casually, Derek slipped his arm around her shoulders. She had trouble breathing. She moved Grayson to her other breast, closer to Derek, and as he nursed he began to fall back to sleep. He looked precious, and she couldn’t hold back a smile.

“He’s beautiful, Angel.” Derek’s warm breath fanned her temple and she shivered. “You’re beautiful.”

His voice sounded with awe, and as he scooted even closer, seeming to surround her with his heat and scent and power, she felt herself relaxing. This felt right. Derek was doing nothing untoward, only taking part in what was rightfully his. His left arm moved across her abdomen in an embrace, just below the baby, circling both mother and son. He kissed her temple, a light, loving kiss. Slowly, Grayson released her nipple and a drop of milk slid down his chin. With his fingertip, Derek wiped it away.

They neither one moved. She knew Derek was looking at her, studying her, but there was nothing lurid about his scrutiny. He dipped his head and kissed Grayson on his silky crown. In a low, husky whisper, he asked, “Would you like me to burp him and put him back to bed?”

Angel nodded.

As he was lifted, Grayson stretched and groaned and gave a loud belch, making any further efforts unnecessary. Derek grinned as he hefted the small weight to his shoulder and got to his feet. He looked down at Angel. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered. “Don’t move.”

Other than covering her breast and nervously shifting, she obeyed.

It was late, now close to eleven o’clock, but she was far from sleepy. So many emotions were pulling at her—fear and anxiety and anticipation, but also a deep contentment. Derek was everything a father should be, and she couldn’t quite work up the energy to distrust him anymore. It took all she had as she fought herself to keep from falling in love with him. Despising him was out of the question.

Derek stepped out of the baby’s room, softly closing the door behind him. For long moments, he merely stared at Angel across the room. The time of reckoning, she thought.

For the life of her, she couldn’t seem to move. Her heart began racing, her palms grew damp. She saw Derek lock his jaw, saw his shoulders tighten and flex, and she knew, without him saying a single word, he was caught in the same inexplicable flow of emotions as she.

What would happen next, she couldn’t guess, but she was anxious to find out.

And then the phone rang.

Angel gasped. Both wary and disgusted by the interruption, she stared toward the kitchen where the phone was located.

Derek frowned at her. “Do you want me to get that for you?”

“No, I’ll…” She shook her head, wiped her palms across her thighs. And still she sat there, staring at the phone.

Sparing her a curious glance, Derek stalked to the phone and snatched it up on the fifth ring. “Hello?” He kept his gaze on Angel as he spoke and she tried to clear her expression, but she could see he’d already read too much there.

“Hello?” he said a little more forcefully. He looked at the receiver, then gently placed it in the cradle. As he walked back to loom over Angel, she could see the questions in his eyes. “What’s going on, honey?” His tone was soft, menacing.

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

He waited, not moving away, not saying another word. She recognized his stubborn expression, only now there was more of a threat there, more determination than ever.

“Sometimes I get strange calls.”

She hadn’t meant to make such a bald confession, but it just slipped out. After a deep breath while he raised one eyebrow, encouraging her, she continued. “Sometimes, eight or ten times now, someone has called and just…breathed in the phone. Today I finally heard a voice. He…said things to me.” She lifted her gaze and got caught in his. “He called right before you got here.”

Derek’s eyes darkened, his eyebrows lowered, and suddenly he was crouching there in front of her, his hands holding hers, hard but not really hurting her. It did give her the feeling she couldn’t get away, even if she tried.

His gaze was so intense, so probing, she squirmed. “You thought it might be me,” he accused.

He didn’t sound angry precisely, though she couldn’t pinpoint the dominant emotion in his tone. She straightened her shoulders and frowned right back. “I wondered. I have no enemies that I know of, no reason for threats. You’re the only person who ever seemed to despise me, and I’ve never really understood why.”

There, let him deal with that, she thought and jerked away to walk carefully into the kitchen. She needed something to drink, some warm tea. And she needed to escape his close scrutiny.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Derek stand, then pace around her tiny living room. He had his hands back in his pockets and his head down in deep thought. She was familiar with that look now, that show of serious introspection. She’d seen it a lot lately, though in the past she couldn’t recall Derek ever doubting himself, ever giving so much thought to anything pertaining to her.

She put water on to boil, then asked, “Would you like some tea?”

“Thank you.”

After righting the fallen chair, she sat at her small kitchen table, waiting for the water to get hot. Moments later she felt Derek’s hands on her shoulders, heavy and warm.

“The problem is,” he whispered, “I’m not making the calls. And I don’t despise you.” His hands slipped up to her throat, caressing, then smoothing her damp hair back behind her ears. “On the contrary, Angel, I want to take care of you.”

Anger caused her eyes to narrow. She wanted to believe him, to understand and accept his help. She twisted to face him. “Why? Why now, when you made it plain months ago how you felt? You deliberately humiliated me in front of my supervisors. You didn’t just break things off, you tried to break me. Why?”

His eyes closed and he turned his head away. “You’re right, of course. I can’t undo the past. I can only have regrets, which don’t amount to a hill of beans. But I’m here now and I’d like to help.”

Since that was what she’d wanted all along, what her entire plan had been, she should have been relieved. But somehow everything was different than she’d expected. He wasn’t the same man, easy to be detached from now. The Derek who’d first hurt her had been more of an illusion to her, an image of strength and power that had seduced her by sheer impression. She hadn’t really known the man, other than in the most superficial ways; she’d merely been attracted to his image. But now she genuinely liked and respected him. When she could set the past aside, he was fun, and when he held Grayson, the affection in his eyes filled her with an insidious warmth that expanded her heart. More often than not, she didn’t understand what she was feeling.

Only one thing was certain: Grayson could be at risk if she didn’t find some sort of protection.

She got up to serve the tea, collecting her thoughts. After she set his cup near him on the table, she said, “I’ve gotten several anonymous calls lately, more than ever before. Usually, it’s just breathing and such. They started before I’d moved, when I lived in my old apartment. After I moved here, they stopped for a while and I thought I’d lost whoever it was. But just recently they started up again. It’s possible my phone number was taken from one of the posted ads around the colleges. The ads are generic, offering typing, but since I’ve been transcribing for colleges ever since the accident, it could be my number was relocated that way.”

Derek nodded. “Very possible, I suppose. But the person making the calls would have to be damn determined.”

Angel shivered. “He spoke for the first time today. He said, very clearly, that I couldn’t hide. He called me a few…choice names and told me to give him what he wanted.”

She saw Derek’s jaw go hard and knew he was clenching his teeth. He stared at her and she shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what he wants. I wish I did.”

“Go on.”

“I also got a letter in my mailbox.”

“Where is it?”

She pulled an envelope from the basket on top of her refrigerator and handed it to Derek. The letter was now wrinkled from her many hours of examining it, but Derek had no trouble making out the typed message. “I’ve found you,” he read aloud. He was silent for a long time, his face dark, his expression tight. He threw the letter on the table and turned on her.

“You thought I was behind this?” he asked, his teeth clenched, color high on his face. “You thought I would resort to sneaking around and stuffing threatening letters in a woman’s mailbox, in your mailbox?”

His reaction was genuine and for the first time she felt absolutely positive that he played no part in the harassment.

A little truth now certainly wouldn’t hurt. Problem was, as she tried to give it, tears gathered in her eyes, and she couldn’t quite work up the nerve to accuse his family, the most likely of suspects. Not yet.

She shook her head. “No,” she said, trying to sound sure of herself. “I don’t really think you’re behind it. But the letter came after I contacted you. Before that, all I’d gotten was phone calls. And you noticed the fake name on my mailbox that day. Now tonight, you showed up right after the call, and it was the first time he’d ever spoken to me. That’s a lot of coincidences.” She searched his face, hoping he’d understand. “I had to consider you, Derek. I couldn’t take any chances with Grayson’s safety.”

Seconds ticked by, then he reluctantly nodded.

She drew a deep breath of relief. “The whole reason I contacted you again, the only reason I introduced Grayson to you is because deep down, for some incredibly insane reason, I guess I still trust you. Even after everything that happened, I thought…I thought you would help. I hoped you would help.”

She swallowed, the sound audible, almost choked. “Derek…I’ve been so scared, and I don’t have anyone else to go to.”

A stunned moment of silence fell between them. She could feel the waves of emotion emanating from him, anger and regret and need. Then she was in his arms and it felt so good, so right, she curled closer and snuggled tighter, trying to fit herself completely against his long, hard length. His arms wrapped around her, urgently, almost violently, while his mouth nuzzled down her face, giving her small anxious biting kisses until finally he reached her lips and then he was devouring her and she was glad, so very, very glad.

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