Page 63 of Cry, Little Dove

“Youare Erica Dellinger?” Wolfer asks.

She takes her driver’s license from her purse and tosses it onto the table. Wolfer picks it up, tutting.

“Well, if you’re already here, you could help clear up a few things for us, Miss Dellinger.”

Erica crosses her arms. “Go on.”

By now, the younger agent has stopped responding to Mandy, who is still berating him while typing furiously on her phone. It looks like she doesn’t even take a breath between tirades of insults and legal threats. The man shrinks further and further under her wrath. He’ll probably need therapy after this.

“A witness saw your lifeless body being carried out of a motel in North Texas,” Wolfer says to Erica. “They took this picture with their phone and alerted local police. When the sheriff found an abandoned vehicle registered to your name a few miles outside of town, it became a missing person’s case and was handed over to the FBI. Dr. Morrow is a person of interest.”

Erica’s jaw drops before she launches into laughter. “Wow!” She laughs some more, wiping tears from her eyes. “That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. Did you even do any research on Cain?”

Wolfer blinks. “Naturally—”

“Then you know that he’s an altruistic man who uses his wealth to help others. His donations single-handedly stopped the Little Hearts Children’s Hospital from closing, and he made further investments to help build an extension, too. And that’s only one part of his efforts to care for the community of San Antonio.”

“Well…” Wolfer starts, but Erica shoves a hand in front of his face.

“Cain wouldn’t hurt a fly. And that picture…” She taps the photo. “That’s him carrying me to his car because I was so drunk, I couldn’t walk straight. That wasafterwe had sex.Consensually. It was me who invited him to my room in the first place.”

I can’t believe my ears, but my heart dances. I wanna jump up and cheer.

My little dove didn’t rat me out.

My darlin’ protected me.

Wolfer pokes his tongue inside his cheek. “If you weren’t kidnapped, why did you abandon your car by the side of the road, Miss Dellinger?”

“That happened before I met Cain. After losing my job, I was flat out broke and had no money to fix my car or even call a tow truck. I had no choice but to leave it.”

Wolfer sighs as he picks up the picture, sliding it back into the file. His lips twist into a thin smile and he holds out her driver’s license while he speaks in my direction. “We’re very sorry for the inconvenience, Dr. Morrow.” He stands, straightening his suit. “You’re free to go.”

Erica glares at him. She grabs her license and stuffs it into her clutch. “Finally. You’ll be hearing from our lawyers,” she says and turns to me, head tilting as she offers me her hand. “Let’s go home, Cain.”

I pull into the driveway in deafening silence and sitting on fuckin’ coals, which is exactly how I felt driving us home in the dark. Fingers tapping the steering wheel, I park the car—a more high-society appropriate, luxury SUV—in front of the house and turn off the motor.

I open my mouth, but Erica gets out and rushes up the stairs to the front door, the motion sensor on the steps turning on the porch lights. She hugs herself, hands rubbing along her upper arms.

I follow her with a sigh on my lips.

It’s chilly tonight. Clouds drifted in earlier, hiding the glimmering stars. Slices of moonlight cut through the grim darkness, but are soon overcome by the grey shroud, and the scent of ozone hangs in the thick air. Even the nocturnal animals are quiet.

A storm is coming.

My darlin’ looks as gorgeous as she did at the gala. The green silk gown flows like water over her curves, and when I first saw her, I couldn’t wait to rip it off her. Now I just wanna sink to my knees to thank her for saving me, but I’ve never seen her this closed off. Not even when I kidnapped her. At least back then, she was shooting snarky remarks at me like a hail of bullets.

This fuckin’ silence feels like a gun to my head.

“You haven’t said a damn word since we left the police station, little dove.” I take the keys from my pocket and unlock the door. “You’re killing me here. Please, say something?”

She glances at me, her expression unreadable. “Someth—”

“Don’t fuckin’ play around, please.”

“Ididsay something earlier. I said I want to go back to the ranch instead of staying in the hotel.” She kicks off her heels and stomps through the foyer, disappearing around the corner.

I groan. “Oh, come on! You know what I mean! And I drove us home like you asked.”

---