Trusted Fate Page 2

  “What time are you planning on going out tonight?”

  Alec nodded. “We were planning on just after dark.”

  “It’s about eleven now. Go home, get some sleep, and plan on going out around seven. Seven to nine seems to be the time people are catching sight of her.”

  Both stood straight and headed for the door.

  “Call me if you find anything.”

  Both men waved and closed the door behind them.

  Chapter 3

  Lily cleared some dust from the feed store window and waited until she saw the owners of the café leave for the night. After creeping out the back door, she kept to the shadows as much as she could. She took a relieved breath when she made it to the alleyway beside the diner on the other side of the street.

  Desperation, fatigue, and illness were making her unsteady. She hung onto the dumpster, catching her breath before trying to hoist herself up. A few days before it hadn’t been hard to climb, but that night her grip was so shaky she didn’t know if she is able to do it.

  She had to do something. She knew her injury was worse, and now she had a fever because of it. If she didn’t do something soon, it would probably be too late. She hadn’t been successful in finding all plants that she needed in the woods earlier but did what she could with what she had.

  Lily knew her fear of the people in town was probably going to end up killing her. She’d made a decision earlier that day to go into the café. The woman there looked really nice, and Lily hoped she’d be able to help. As the hours went by her fear grew steadily along with her fever, preventing her from going to the woman when she was that weak.

  Now her only goal was to find food. If she didn’t eat, she wouldn’t be strong enough to fight off the infection.

  Her breathing was ragged as she hoisted herself up the side of the dumpster. She hung there for a moment and knew if she kept going she was going to fall into the dumpster and probably injure herself more.

  Her body jolted when she caught sight of a large shadow making its way back to where she was. She dropped down, biting back the groan that clawed at her throat at the spike of pain that raced down her leg. She hunched over, trying to make herself as small as possible, and moved behind the dumpster.

  Terror unlike any she’d ever felt before raced through her when she heard two men’s voices talking to each other. She’d only caught the one shadow. If they knew she was here, she had very little strength to get away from one much less two of them.

  Lily used the sleeve of the man’s shirt to wipe the sweat mixed with tears that ran down her face. She bit back a sob when she realized how close they were to her hiding space.

  Right then everything in her screamed to run, but her body was giving out on her. She knew she wouldn’t make it three steps before she collapsed. Her leg was starting to throb worse than ever, and she could feel wetness slide down the inside of her leg. She guessed it was blood mixed with the pus.

  Her only hope was that they hadn’t seen her…

  “There’s no way she can get away,” John whispered.

  Lily’s heart dropped, and her stomach churned with fear, making bile slide up her throat.

  Alec’s blood was racing through his veins. They’d found her. He didn’t know why she became so important to him. Maybe it was the fact she was so young and was taking care of herself and managing to stay ahead of the cops until then.

  “Alec, how do you want to do this without terrifying the poor thing?”

  “Let me try to talk her out first.”

  John nodded and took a few steps to the side and looked under a cardboard box.

  Alec stood on the other side of the alley, moving slowly toward the back. There was no way for her to get away.

  “Sweetheart. We know you’re back here, and we just want to help. We’re both police officers, and we’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

  Both men waited and got nothing but silence.

  “We don’t want to scare you, honey. Please…”

  Lily bit back a moan when she moved farther behind the dumpster.

  Both men froze. John lifted his hand and pointed toward her hiding place. ‘You go on that side, and I’ll stay on this,’ he mouthed to Alec.

  Alec nodded. “Why won’t you let us help you?’

  They both slowly crept forward and took their places on either side. Alec pulled the dumpster away from the wall. His heart about broke for the little woman who sat huddled and terrified. What the fuck had been done to her?

  Alec crouched down, trying to make himself smaller and less threatening.

  “Hi. My name’s Alec. Can you tell me what your name is?” He waited as his eyes scanned over what he could see of her. Her features were so delicate and as pure as an angel. She looked remarkably clean for living on the streets. “Can you tell me where you’re from?”

  She pulled her arms tighter around herself and shook her head.

  “You can’t tell me because you don’t know?”

  Lily shook her head.

  Alec sat down Indian style, trying to make himself less intimidating, which was hard to do because he was over six feet tall and had broad muscular shoulders.

  “This is good that we’re talking.”

  She stared at him as she clenched her teeth against the shivers that racked her body from the crisp air and fever.

  Alec couldn’t see a lot of her face. She sat so deeply in the shadows. Her hair was hidden with some kind of cloth, and she wore a man’s oversized shirt that covered her. He knew she looked small, but he couldn’t tell the age or size of her yet.

  Alec bit back a curse when he caught the shiver that shook her before she tried to hide it. It really wasn’t cold out yet, but if she wasn’t from around here, she might not be used to the weather. Dammit. They needed to get her inside.

  “Sweetheart. I don’t want you to be alarmed, but I have a friend here who’s worried about you, too, so if you see another man, don’t be scared.”

  Yeah, right. The girl couldn’t be more afraid right then.

  “His name is John.”

  Lily turned her head quickly to the other side and then back when she didn’t see even a shadow.

  “He’s not going to get close to you. We’re very worried about scaring you more than you already are.”

  Lily tried to move and bit back a moan when her thighs pressed together, and it pushed on the wound.

  Alec caught the flicker of pain and gritted his teeth. She was either hurt or hurting herself somehow hiding between the rough wall and dumpster.

  “Do you remember my name?”

  Lily nodded silently.

  “Can you tell me what it is because I forget it a lot?”

  He relaxed a bit when he caught a small smile.

  “Alec.”

  He heard her whisper and almost shouted in relief.

  “That’s right, honey. Are you sure you can’t tell me yours?”

  Her eyes darted behind her before she faced him again.

  “It’s Lily.”

  Alec had to really listen, her voice was so low.

  “Lily? I think that’s the prettiest name I’ve ever heard.”

  There was no expression from her, no flicker of emotion, so he continued to talk.

  “Well, except one other name. Do you want to know what it is?” He smiled when she nodded. “Herbert. I like the name Herbert.”

  Lily snorted out a small laugh. “That’s not a name.”

  “Are you sure? I thought I heard someone say it once.”

  Lily smiled and shook her head.

  “Lily, honey, I can tell you’re shivering. Will you let us help you, sweetheart?”

  Lily stiffened. Her head dropped to her drawn-up knees as a wave of pain raced through her.

  “Lily, look at me, baby girl.”

  A sob caught in her throat at the name. Her granny had called her baby girl. It made her miss her home, her granny, and her cousin Grace even more.

 
Alec heard her cry. “Honey, did I say something wrong?” His heart jerked in his chest when she raised her head, and he could see the shine of tears on her cheeks.

  Lily wiped her face with the sleeve of the shirt she wore.

  “No, my granny used to call me that.”

  A frown puckered Alec’s face. “What? Baby girl?”

  Lily nodded.

  “Is it okay if I call you that?” He was becoming desperate. He was catching signs of her being ill. High fever, chills, a dark flush on her cheek, and the shaking she couldn’t control.

  She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

  Alec smiled. “Good because I think it sounds nice.” Her shivers were getting worse. “Baby girl, can you trust us to take care of you? Please know that we would cut off our arm before we hurt you.” He clenched his teeth in frustration when she stayed still. “Honey, please. I can tell you don’t feel good. Please trust us enough to let us help you.” The last thing he wanted was to grab her, but something was wrong with her, and if this went on much longer, he wouldn’t have a choice. She needed to see a doctor.

  Lily took a deep breath then nodded.

  He sighed and then smiled. “That’s good. I’m going to stand right now so I can help you up, all right?”

  Lily nodded.

  Alec stood slowly. He knew his size was going to scare her, so he didn’t want to make any fast moves and make it worse.

  “All right.” He held out his hand to her. “Put your hand in mine, baby girl.”

  Lily took a deep breath and reached out. She flinched when his hand closed around hers but didn’t try to pull away.

  “Here we go,” he said as he pulled her up to her feet. “I’m going to hold your hand. Is that okay?”

  “All right.”

  She took two steps and cried out as her legs gave out. Strong arms gathered her against a broad chest before she hit the ground.

  “Wow, that was close,” Alec tried to joke but knew she had to sense his concern. “Can you put your arms around my neck, baby girl?” He let out a relieved sigh when she did it immediately, and he lifted her against his chest. “Now remember, I told you about my friend. I don’t want you to be afraid. His looks might startle you because I think he looks a little like a gnome.”

  Lily gasped, then laughed when she caught his smile.

  “Lily, this is John. John, I’d like you to meet Lily.”

  Lily jerked her head toward the other man and tensed for a second.

  “He doesn’t look like a gnome,” she whispered to Alec.

  “No? Does he look like an over-sized dwarf?”

  Lily smiled and shook her head.

  “He looks like what I thought a prince would look like.”

  John laughed. “Thank you, Lily.”

  Alec rolled his eyes. “Now he’s going to go around thinking he’s handsome and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Lily laughed tiredly.

  Both men noticed her shivers and how her speech was getting lower and more slurred.

  Alec held her tighter against his chest.

  “Lily, John and I live together. Would it be okay if we took you home and got you warm?”

  Lily nodded and leaned her head against Alec’s shoulder.

  “I think she’s asleep,” John said.

  “Good.” Alec leaned his chin against her forehead. “John, she’s burning up.”

  John leaned in and touched her cheeks.

  “Damn. She’s got a pretty high fever.”

  “I think she needs to go to the hospital…”

  Lily started pushing against Alec’s chest.

  “No hospital. Let me down…”

  Alec tightened his grip.

  “Ssshhh. Sweetheart, you’re sick. We need to get you help.”

  “No. If you take me to that place, I’ll die,” she cried out and continued to struggle. She’d been brought up to fear the townsfolk and their doctors and hospitals because so many of her mountain people went to town to get medical help Granny couldn’t help them with, and more times than not, they never returned.

  John and Alec shared a look.

  Alec kissed the top of her head.

  “All right, baby girl. We’ll just take you to our house. All right?”

  Lily stopped struggling. “Only there. Promise me.”

  “We promise,” John replied. He took off his jacket and covered her with it.

  Lily relaxed, sighed, and was asleep again.

  “Let’s get her home. John, why don’t you go get the car, and I’ll start walking that way.”

  “I’ll hurry.”

  Alec walked down the sidewalk, listening to her breath, and thought he could listen to this for the rest of his life. Although he hadn’t seen that much of her with what she was covered up in and the lack of light, he guessed she was an adult. At least he hoped so because the way he was feeling wasn’t what he should be if she were a teenager.

  John pulled up beside them, parked, and ran around to open the back door. He waited until Alec had her situated on his lap before closing the door.

  John looked in his rearview mirror at the expression on Alec’s face.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll be home in a few minutes.”

  Alec nodded. “Just hurry. I’m afraid we might not have gotten to her in time.”

  John shook his head as he pressed down harder on the gas pedal as a harsh streak of fear stabbed into his chest.

  “Don’t say that. She’s going to be fine.”

  Chapter 4

  “Let me get the door, Alec.”

  Alec shook his head at John. Alec hadn’t released his grip on her since they found her and couldn’t see himself doing it anytime soon. He walked to the couch and laid her down. He crouched beside her and put his palm against her cheek. Dammit. She was burning up.

  John rushed out of the kitchen to grab supplies.

  “Here’s a bowl of water and a washcloth,” John said as he dipped it in before wringing it out.

  Alec moved to sit on the couch next to her legs while John took the grime off her face, neck, and hands.

  Alec pulled the scarf she had on her head off while John cleaned off the dirt, sweat, and tears with a cloth. Both froze as a thick braid slipped out and fell to her waist. The length and thickness were astounding, but the light color of her hair was what took their breaths.

  John reached out and slid a hand over her head.

  “It’s such a light blonde color. There are no dark tones in it.”

  “I didn’t believe the people who said she had white hair. I didn’t know there was such a thing without bottled hair color, and I can guarantee this didn’t come from a bottle.”

  John continued to clean off what he could that wasn’t covered up.

  “We need to figure out what’s causing the fever.”

  Alec slid his thumb over her cheek.

  “Lily, baby girl. We need you to wake up for a second. Come on, honey. Open those eyes.”

  Lily stirred. She wanted to push away the hand that was touching her. She just wanted to sleep.

  Alec looked at John.

  John cleared his throat and used his hard and rough Dom voice to get her attention.

  “Lily, you need to wake up right now.”

  Lily jerked at the tone of John’s voice. The authority in it was something she couldn’t ignore. She blinked a few times and almost had a heart attack at the two men leaning over her. Her head jerked around as fear spread throughout her body, making her breath see-saw out of her lungs. Where in tarnation was she?

  While she was frantically looking around, both men were staring at her.

  Alec swallowed. Her hair had been unusual but her eyes. Damn. They were almost colorless. He could detect the light shade of blue, but mostly just clear. He thought of albinos, but their eyes tended to have a reddish tint to them, and their skin had no pigment at all. Her skin, although pale, was still a few shades darker than what an albinos would be.

&nb
sp; “Lily, look at me.”

  Lily’s eyes focused on John as she tried to calm her breathing.

  “You have a high fever, baby. Do you know what could be causing it?”

  Lily gathered her scattered thoughts and tried to understand what he was saying.

  “Lily. I need you to answer us.”

  Lily tore her eyes from the man beside her and looked at the one sitting by her hips. A shaft of relief ran through her when she realized he was the man from the alley.

  “Baby girl. Why do you have a fever?”

  Her eyes started to close.

  “John, use your Dom voice again. It seemed to get through to her before. I need to stay the soft-spoken man until she feels comfortable around us.”

  “Lily, open your eyes right now.” A small smile touched his lips when they jerked open. “Good girl. Why do you have a fever?”

  Lily swallowed and bit back a cry when she tried to move her leg.

  It took every bit of strength to answer them. “I cut myself on the dumpster.”

  “When?”

  “A few days ago…” Lily faded out as she gave in to exhaustion because she couldn’t fight it anymore.

  “Where is it…shit, she’s out. I still think we should consider the hospital. I don’t have enough training to be able to deal with something this serious,” John advised.

  “No. Not the way she reacted. Call Sherice. She’s a physician’s assistant. That’s as close we're going to get to a family doctor. And I don’t think she’d be able to tolerate another man around her. I don’t know what happened to her, but I can tell she’s terrified of men.”

  John growled. “God, if I find out she’s been abused, I’ll tear them apart.”

  “You and me both. I’ll take her into the bedroom while you call,” Alec said as he bent to pick her up.

  Alec stepped back after laying her on the comforter. He pulled a blanket from the bottom of the bed and spread it over her. Her shivering had decreased, but he still detected she needed some warmth, although he knew with a fever he couldn’t put her under a mound of blankets.

  John came through the door with the bowl of fresh water and clothing.

  “Sherice said she’d come as quickly as she could.”

  Alec nodded. “I think we need to get some of the clothes off and try to find the cut she was talking about.”