Meghan Carver - Under Duress

Reid turned back to the front and collapsed against the backseat, flexing his fingers to loosen the soreness out after his death grip on the steering wheel.

Lily popped up over the back of the seat and eyed the restaurant. “Are we safe? Does this mean we’re going to eat now?”

Samantha shifted into Park and leaned her head against the rest. “Let us catch our breath first, girl.”

“And give the bad guy a few minutes to get farther away.” He had the strange but undeniable urge to ruffle her hair, but would a ten-year-old girl see that as affectionate? As relief that they were all safe? Or was she at the age where her hairstyle was of the utmost importance and all touching would be an affront? Considering that she had the pungent aroma of someone who had been running and playing and fishing all day, he doubted it was the latter.

But what was he thinking anyway? She wasn’t his. He had just met her maybe an hour ago, and under rather unusual circumstances. And even though he knew her guardian a little, Samantha probably didn’t have a favorable memory of him.

Samantha ran her hand through her hair and fluffed out the ends. Reid noticed again the clean scent of shampoo that emanated from her. It was the best scent he’d had in his Jeep...well, ever. He breathed deeply, desperate to inhale peace and calm. Samantha was a smart attorney, well practiced at asking tough questions.

He was a smart attorney, too. He knew what was coming.

It was unavoidable.

Samantha turned in the driver’s seat, pulling her knee up toward the console. She pierced Reid with a classic interrogation look. “So you want to tell me what was going on back there at the police station?”

He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant even as his stomach roiled. “I tried to tell you that they wouldn’t be helpful. But I apologize for any difficulty my presence caused. I figured it might...uh...stifle their desire to serve and protect.”

Samantha cocked her head, her brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I was a police officer.” He paused. Held his breath. “I was asked to leave the force.”

* * *

Of course. Samantha remembered now. That had been his job before law school. He was a police officer. And now his hesitancy to drive them to the police station as well as his knowledge of evidence became clear, as well. Samantha sagged against her seat. She had forced him into an uncomfortable, even awkward, situation for which he was unprepared because she hadn’t trusted his judgment.

“The force?” Lily leaned against the seat.

“Lily, he means the police force. The police department.” Samantha swiped some hair from her cheek.

“You were a police officer?” Apparently, her charge wasn’t going to let go of this easily. “Did you carry a gun?” Lily strained forward in her curiosity. “Do you have a gun now?”

Reid cleared his throat. “Since we’re all getting hungry—”

Samantha’s stomach clenched, but she couldn’t tell whether it was from hunger or fear. “Wait a minute. You just said you were asked to leave the force. Is that why your old buddy at the station was so quick to say there wasn’t much he could do?”

“No, I don’t think so. There truly isn’t much that can be done. But I was going to make contact after I’d gotten settled in. Pave the way with some buffalo wings. Your predicament just forced me there a little sooner.” He glanced out the window then back to her, a glint of irritation in his eyes. “Do you think I don’t remember anything of my training or my experience as an officer? I tried to tell you that there was nothing that could be done right now, but you didn’t want to believe me.”

“Why should I have trusted you? If I remember correctly, you were asked to leave the school. Something happened. I don’t suppose you’d care to fill me in on that story.”

Reid swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Samantha didn’t care for asking such pointed questions, but her security, and Lily’s, was at stake.

“I used to have a bit of a problem with anger. I was mad at everyone and everything back then. When I started law school, I was still angry with the police department for what I thought they had done to me. Then at the law school it seemed, to me at least, that the professors were grossly unfair. One day near the end of the first year, our torts professor pushed me too hard during one class. I couldn’t come up with the answer to his question in the time he expected, and he started berating me in front of the class.” He paused and fingered the Jeep’s upholstery. “I lost it. I yelled at the professor. Turns out that’s a cardinal sin in graduate education. It’s not something I’m proud of and most of the time I’m pretty good at leaving it where it belongs. In the past.”

In the past. Samantha fought down the urge to touch his hand. After Reid had left the law school, rumors had floated back that he had changed somehow, that another incident had led him to a turning point, but Samantha hadn’t known him well enough to be in the circle of acquaintances who kept up with him. He’d been gone, and it just simply hadn’t concerned her. Now she prayed that those rumors had been true and he had changed for the better. She let herself reach out to touch his arm, a gesture of comfort that ended up comforting her.

“But apparently you finished school. Elsewhere?”

A shadow of something, perhaps an elusive memory from his past, flitted across his face. He slowly drew his attention back to her, as if being summoned from a distant thought. “Yes.”

Samantha waited for more, but apparently a one-word answer was all she was going to get. Either Reid was one of those strong, silent types, or he didn’t want to confess his sins, no matter how good for the soul that was supposed to be.

“What type of law do you practice? You must have a job lined up if you just drove in today. You start on Monday?”

More silence followed by a loud swallowing sound. “Uh, family law is my preference.” He shifted in his seat. “Guardianships, adoptions, maybe a little of wills and trusts. And no job. I’m thinking of starting my own practice.”

Heat crept over Samantha, but at least her inflamed cheeks would be hidden by the late twilight. So that was yet another reason for his evasion.

Invasion. Into her legal territory.

Lily’s face shone in the fast-food joint’s neon lights as thunder rumbled through the Jeep. Of course, there was nothing stopping her from getting out of the vehicle and walking Lily into the restaurant. She could call someone, anyone, from in there and ditch Reid completely. But the thugs were still out there, looking for her and Lily. Despite Reid’s reputation as a defiant rule breaker, he had protected them so far. If she left, then what would she do? Who would protect her?

She tapped her first two fingers against her lips. She would stick with Reid, if he would have her.

“Sam, I am about to keel over from hunger back here.” Lily’s whine filled the Jeep, forcing Samantha to concentrate on the more immediate problem. Hunger. “Just give me some money, and I’ll grab a burger or maybe some chicken tenders. You want anything?”

“Young lady, you are not leaving this vehicle.” Egad, the tone in her voice sounded just like her mother’s. When had that happened? She wanted to be a cool mom. A friend more than a dictator, benevolent or otherwise.

She glanced at Reid, but he only shrugged his shoulders. Thanks a lot.

“Come on, Sam. A ketchup packet? A little thingy of salt?”

“Not here.” She put the Jeep into Reverse and pulled out of the spot. Then she turned it in the opposite direction the black SUV had gone a few minutes before.

Reid didn’t say anything, so she headed up the main street another block and turned into another fast-food burger place.