Unwanted Heat

Nicholas

“I woke up to an empty bed,” I pout, as I walk into the kitchen, finally finding Kenzie leaning over the stove, cooking pancakes in the Tshirt that I threw on last night before we walked back to the main cabin. “What time is it?”

“Just after twelve thirty,” she smirks at me, knowing that I never sleep this late.

“You exhausted me last night,” I move closer to her, so I’m directly behind her, my body pressed up against her. I wrap my arms around her waist, anchoring her to me.

“I can’t imagine why,” she chuckles as her face reddens at the reason why I slept so late.

After I proposed to Kenzie (again) at the dock, we made love and laid next to each other for hours just holding each other. When we were both fighting to stay awake, we reluctantly left the boathouse and walked back to the main cabin. Again, we continued to celebrate our engagement, (is it still an engagement if you’re already married?) throughout the night. I can’t tell you how many times either of us came, or what time we finally crashed for the night, although, I do vaguely remember watching the sun rise as one point.

“Come back to bed,” my lips are pressed up against her ear, and I feel her body shiver against mine.

“No,” she whispers back.

“No?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“I need sustenance before… that,” she blushes again.

“Okay, food and then we go back to bed.”

I reluctantly pull away, knowing that she’s right-we both need to eat. With that realization my stomach starts growling… loudly enough that she once again smirks at me, as if to say “see?” I make a cup of coffee for both of us. She carries over two plates of pancakes to the small table just off the kitchen, while I follow behind with our cups.

“I love the view here,” she sighs staring out the large sliding doors that lead to the wraparound deck. “It’s so peaceful.”

“You’ll like it in Vermont too, we’ll be just as secluded there as we are here. Snow covered mountains and trees are all you can see. It’s easy when you’re there, or here, to forget the rest of the world exists.”

“That it is,” she says with her eyes still focused outside.

As I watch her, I don’t need to ask to know what she’s thinking about. The last couple of days have just been… hell. If I thought it would help, I would keep her here forever and say screw the rest of the world. However, even I know that we can’t hide forever. If I ever get my hands on her ex, I swear I’ll kill him with my bare hands for what he did to her and for what he put her though. How someone could hurt another human being like that, I will never understand. A knock on the door of the cabin quickly pulls me from my thoughts.

“That’s probably Carter,” I quickly take the plates, scraping at least half of what was on her plate into the garbage.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower and put on some clothes,” she says.

“If you wait until we’re done, I’ll join you,” I suggest.

“That’s okay, I won’t be long-you catch up with Carter.”

Another knock comes from the door before I can ask if everything is okay. I force myself to remember that the last few days are probably wearing on her. Just another reason we need to catch this fucker and get him out of her life once and for all.

“Morning, sir,” Carter says as soon as I open the door.

“Carter,” I nod and step aside to let him into the cabin.

“Mrs. Parker, sir?”

“In the shower-tell me you have something.”

“Asher cleaned up the image from the security camera,” he pauses.

“And?”

“The tattoo is exactly as Mrs. Parker described, sir.” “So it was him,” I sigh in confirmation.

“Everything is looking that way, sir.”

“Tell me you found him or you found something…” I run my hands through my hair, practically begging Carter for information I know he doesn’t have yet. The longer this fucker is out there, the longer he poses a risk to Kenzie.

“Nothing substantial, sir,” he hesitates.

“But… you found something?” I try not to get my hopes up.

“We’ve been tracking the van that was found on the garage surveillance footage, the one we believe Westbrook left in and it’s been found abandoned.”

“How is this news? It sounds like you’re no further to catching him, than you were the other night! Damn it, Carter, give me something!”

“Relax, Nicholas,” Kenzie says softly as she walks into the room. “Maybe you should let Carter finish what he was saying.”

I stand up from the couch, turning and holding out my hand to her, pleading with her to sit by me. I don’t know what happened in the shower, but the Kenzie from breakfast seems to be gone. She smiles at Carter as he nods in her direction before she takes my hand and sits next to me on the couch. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me, needing to feel her.

“Carter, if Nicholas didn’t already offer you some, there’s coffee and pancakes in the kitchen.”

“Thank you, ma’am, but that won’t be necessary.”

“At least have some coffee, you look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she says, at which point I finally look at Carter and realize that she’s right. He looks like shit-I doubt he slept much at all in the last couple of days.

“I… thank you, Mrs. Parker; I could probably use another cup,” he is obviously uncomfortable with the attention on himself. “I’ll-” she offers.

“Stay,” I interrupt her. “I got it. Black, Carter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How’s Hunter? Did you guys eat this morning?” I hear her ask as I walk into the kitchen. I smile and shake my head. Despite everything going on, and the obvious pressure this is putting on her, she always worries about everyone else.

“We’re fine, thank you, ma’am-”

“Stop calling me ma’am!” she interrupts loudly.

“Yes, Mrs. Parker,” Carter chuckles. “We’ve both eaten breakfast and Hunter is getting ready to fly back to New York tonight and will return tomorrow with the Parker family.”

“How’s Julie?”

“Wishing she were here instead of with her sister,” he chuckles.

“She could have come… there’s plenty of room.”

“If she hadn’t promised her sister to spend the holiday with her, she would have.”

“Carter,” I hand him a cup of coffee.

“I heard you saying that you found the van he was driving?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes, we’re waiting for confirmation from the police, but the description matches the vehicle from the security footage. The plates were removed, so we don’t have that to confirm. The police have their IT department, working on matching the vehicle to the footage we provided, however, according to Asher, it’s a match.” “Where was the van found?” I ask.

“Two buildings down from where Mrs. Parker lived before… she moved into the condo at Accord Towers.”

Well… fuck… I wasn’t expecting that.

“He knew where I lived,” she whispers. “Oh my God… could he have been the one who broke into my apartment that night?”

“We looked into his whereabouts once we learned who he was, as we initially thought he might have been responsible for the break in.” “And?” I ask.

“He was in Colorado that entire weekend.” “You’re sure?” Kenzie asks.

“His company had a work outing that day; there were pictures on their website of him the day of the break in.”

She lets out the breath I think she had been holding since she realized he may have broken into her apartment. I feel, rather than see, her body relax against mine as the realization hits her that it wasn’t him. I know from experience that someone like this is the last person you want in your home.

“How does this help us find him, Carter?” I feel like all we’ve done is talk in circles-I have no fucking idea how this is good news. We have an abandoned van near an apartment that Kenzie hasn’t lived in for more than a year.

“According to New York PD, his fingerprints were found all over the van along with… Ms. Snyder’s prints. The van was also reported stolen by a neighbor of his in Colorado; this neighbor also confirmed that he did not lend or give permission to Mr. Westbrook to use his van.”

“How does this help us, Carter?” Again… we’re in fucking circles. “Because as soon as we find Westbrook, the police can arrest and hold him on grand theft auto charges. The security footage confirms he was driving the van at the time it was reported stolen. Combined with the fact that he crossed multiple state lines, means he will be held without bail once he is arrested since they will consider him a flight risk.” “So, how the fuck do we find him?” I growl.

“We’re working on that, sir,” Carter sighs heavily.

I know he is just as frustrated by the situation as I am; there is no denying that Kenzie has worked her way into all of our lives in the past few months. I have no doubt that Carter would do anything to protect Kenzie. “Asher has hacked into the security systems for every public transportation location possible. He has some sort of facial recognition software program he developed in the last forty-eight hours, that is screening practically every camera in the city for Westbrook’s face. According to Asher, his system is more accurate than New York PD’s software.” “Is Harper talking at all yet?” I ask.

“No. She’s met with her public defender, but otherwise has had no visitors and no phone calls.”

“Has anyone figured out how they knew each other?” Kenzie asks.

“Not yet.”

“She was seeing a shrink, right?” I remember.

“Yes, sir, she was.”

“Perhaps that therapist can talk to her. We need to figure out what the fuck Westbrook’s plan was!”

“Sir-”

“Someone needs to figure something out because I will not put my life on hold again for one of these fuckers! Enough is enough! Get them out of our lives, so that Kenzie and I can get on with our lives!”

“Relax, Nicholas,” her touch instantly calms me.

“Carter-”

“I get it, sir, no apology needed,” he says. “I’ll speak with her therapist and see what he can do.”

“There has to be some way to get her to flip on Westbrook,” I wonder aloud.

“We’ll figure it out, sir,” Carter stands essentially ending the conversation. “As a reminder, Hunter is flying out this evening to return to New York. He will be picking up the document you requested from Mrs. Parker’s bank and then will fly back with your family tomorrow morning. Ben has already flown in and is being briefed by Hunter right now. If you need anything from a store, I would recommend you providing me a list of what is needed before Hunter leaves, so at least two of us will remain here at all times.”

“I don’t think we need anything-”

“I have a list,” Kenzie interrupts, surprising me. “I spent some time online this morning, figuring out what all is typically made for Thanksgiving dinnerbesides the turkey of courseand how to make it. We need a few items if you don’t mind, Carter.”

“Of course, Mrs. Parker, it won’t be a problem,” his eyes soften and the reason is not lost on me at all. Twice in the last twenty-four hours Kenzie has made reference to not having family dinners during the holidays and I cringe wondering what holidays were like for her growing up. I wonder how different her holidays were from my own before the Parkers took me in.

“Here you go, I think I have everything,” she hands him a handwritten grocery list that looks like it has entirely too much food on it for just a few people.

“Kenzie, baby, if you don’t feel like cooking, it’s not too late to find someone to cater-”

“Absolutely not! You can’t have a catered Thanksgiving Day dinner!” she slaps my arm, and I can’t help but chuckle at her. “Plus, it sounds like your mom is coming tomorrow, so she’ll be here to help cook too! Of course, Cara will be able to help.”

“My mother confirmed she is coming tomorrow and not Thursday morning, Carter?” I ask.

“Yes sir, she was able to switch shifts at the hospital, so she works overnight tonight and is off Thursday and Friday. She’ll need to fly back Saturday morning as she has another overnight shift scheduled.”

“Very good,” I nod, oddly pleased at the thought of Kenzie and my mom making Thanksgiving dinner together. I don’t think I’ve ever given holiday dinners a second thought; I’ve just always taken them for granted but once again Kenzie has managed to open my eyes.