Page 100 of Made of Steele
A night stewing in a cell might help them change their minds. At least Drew hoped so.
He’d left the vehicle he’d commandeered at the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office for the owner to retrieve, and Teagan had taken Drew to retrieve his own car that thankfully ran despite the front end damage. He followed her to make sure she arrived home okay.
She didn’t much like the idea of him seeing her home when he told her his plans. Was it because he’d been so indecisive on a future for them or because she didn’t need to be escorted home and could fend for herself? She’d proven that with Jabal. She had him down for the count. But seeing her at the mercy of that ruthless serial killer left Drew so unsettled his gut ached. If he didn’t see her walk into her house safe and sound tonight, it would ache all night.
He got out and opened her car door for her. She slid those jeans-encased long legs out, the knees grass-stained from her adventure. The color around her eye had deepened to a dark purple, raising his anger.
She didn’t speak but locked her car and started up the walkway.
Drew followed and tried to let go of the earlier conversations with not only the Conti brothers, but Rossi, and Jabal too. He was the most closed-mouth of them all. The entire time Drew and Teagan interrogated him, he sat with a cocky face. Acting superior. The supreme ruler and everyone was his subject.
Sure, Drew wanted to slam a fist into the arrogant guy’s face for the murders. But mostly for what he’d done to Teagan. Drew had to keep his hands in his pockets or he might’ve unloaded on the creep and given the guy a lawsuit to bring against them.
The only point of interest in any of the conversations was that it was clear Rossi and the Contis didn’t know about multiple graves on Smiley’s property. They all reacted with genuine surprise to the graves. Other than Smiley’s.
So Jabal had done what most serial killers do. Acted alone.
At the door, Teagan turned to Drew. He shoved the night’s turmoil into the back of his mind and concentrated on the amazing woman standing before him. He didn’t know what he should say to her, so he kept quiet and waited for her to speak.
“I was thinking on the way over. Christmas is next week,” she said. “Would you like to spend it with my family? Your mom would be welcome to join us too.”
Not at all what he’d expected her to say, and he didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t want to lead her on, but he had to be with her. That had become clear. How could he do both?
For now, he could be noncommittal. “I can ask my mom.”
Teagan’s shoulders drooped. “Does that mean you want to be with me for the holidays?”
Just as much as he hated seeing her physical injuries, he hated seeing this very strong woman so uncertain. He had to tell the truth no matter the consequences. He took her hands. “Yes.”
She smiled, soft, luminous, and his pulse sped up.
Her eyes brightened under the twinkling Christmas lights lining the porch. “I have to warn you that Christmas starts on Christmas Eve day at one. My sisters, cousins, and I go stay with our parents on the farms where we grew up. My grandparents have a place between my parents’ property and my uncle’s property. We split into teams and go out to our sixty acres and cut down a tree. It’s a fierce competition to see who can bring home the best tree.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It is.” Her face glowed with a happiness he hadn’t seen before. “We get three trees. One for each house and we all decorate them while consuming our weight in Christmas cookies baked by my gran. Then we go out to the hayloft in the barn to prepare for Christmas dinner. My grandad invites law enforcement officers and military friends who don’t have anywhere to go on Christmas, and we make sure they have a great day. After we get it all ready, we have a family meal at my grandparents’ house and go to church at midnight.”
A real family Christmas celebration he’d always wanted since his father died. “Again, sounds great.”
“We sleep over in our old rooms on Christmas Eve, and the next morning it’s time for our immediate families. After we’ve had breakfast and opened presents, we go to my grandad’s dinner and later more presents with them.”
“Sounds great. I think my mom would like that too.”
“Perfect.” She squeezed his hands. “So if you would ask her and get back to me as soon as you can, I can tell the family to expect two more people. That would be great.”
“I will.” He pulled her closer. “Will you tell your family about my real name or do you want me to do that?”
She tilted her head. “I can do it. Better to get it done before Christmas.”
“Or we could arrange to meet with them before that,” he said. “I would like to look them in the eye and apologize.”
“We’ll have to get together this week to work on our statements and the final task force report. You could come over for our midweek dinner.”
“Sure. We could…that…yeah, that works.” What he really wanted to say was, can’t we do something to be alone? But he chickened out. He was normally a decisive guy. How could he let simple emotions hold him hostage like this?
“I guess that’s settled. All we have to do is say goodnight.”
“Maybe.” He looked up. “You do have mistletoe above the door. Maybe we should kiss on it.”
