“He’ll never know if we play this right, Kit.” Annie wrapped her arm around the other woman’s shoulders. “You can tell him that I called you, or that my grandmother did, for help with the shop. Or, if from what you told us, he’s still passed out, he’ll never know you left.”
“Is that true, Kit? That he drinks so much on a regular basis?” Josh’s tone conveyed authority but more importantly, compassion.
She nodded. “Yes. His drinking is much worse these days than in the beginning.” She started to cry again. “He used to be much nicer to me. The beatings didn’t start until the last couple of years. First before we moved here, and then once we were in this big house.”
Annie met Josh’s gaze over Kit’s bent head. Anger, determination and compassion were reflected in his eyes. The realization that they were a team working this case together hit her. So much for her sabbatical.
“I’m only the yarn shop owner, as far as your husband is concerned, Kit. You already know from my grandmother that when I’m in New York I work for NYPD on their staff as a psychologist.” Annie braced herself, waiting for Kit’s reaction.
Kit sniffed. “I knew what you did when I came into the shop. Ezzie told me all about you. She’s so proud.”
“My point is that I’m obligated to report any evidence of possible abuse that I witness. I went to Josh with my suspicions after you were in the shop earlier.” Annie waited for Kit’s response. This was always the tricky part—garnering trust while in fact working without the victim’s tacit permission.
Kit looked Annie in the eye and nodded. “I know what you do, and while I don’t like it that you went to the police without telling me, I understand. I suppose I’m the fool for not coming forward sooner.”
“You’re no fool, Kit. You’re one brave woman.” And Annie meant it. Because she understood more than Kit knew she did. She’d been the victim of an abusive boyfriend in college.
She caught Josh’s eyes as he stared at her. Hope reflected in his expression. Somehow, they were going to save this woman and put the man who’d basically enslaved her behind bars.
As they gazed at one another, the connection moved from solely professional to a level of intimacy.
Sensual awareness hit her in the solar plexus. Annie knew the feeling—she was swimming in the deep end of the relationship ocean with this man. It was going to be all or nothing, starting with her agreeing to serve on this case while she ran her grandmother’s shop. It seemed incongruous to be on sabbatical from such a huge personal and professional loss at NYPD, then be called to serve on a dangerous local case while she did something as mundane, as far from law-enforcement ops as possible, as run a yarn shop. Annie fought the urge to speak up and say she couldn’t help, not this time. What if she screwed up, missed another warning sign like she had in NYC? But Josh’s expression kept her silent. He needed her, Kit needed her.
Being in Silver Valley was supposed to be her respite from NYPD and losing her friend. Instead she was in the middle of what could potentially become an ROC revenge case. Because ROC protected its own and she was helping Kit take down its senior-most point of contact in Silver Valley.
Instead of a respite, she’d walked into an asp’s den. No amount of fuzzy skeins of yarn could take away a lethal threat.
* * *
Josh allowed the heat in Annie’s gaze to stoke his desire for her, but not so much that it would be creepy in front of Kit. As quickly as the fire was there between them, it blew out, the shadows in Annie’s eyes indicating she was struggling. He got it. She’d arrived in Silver Valley to take a break and instead found herself facing a lethal ROC operative, via his abused spouse.
He was grateful, and not a little glad, that she’d trusted him enough to reach out again. She could have called it into SVPD dispatch, but she’d texted him. He’d almost banged his head on the headboard when Annie’s text dinged on his nightstand and he’d grabbed his phone.
Kit’s here. Come now.
Annie’s place was actually her grandmother’s, but he felt Annie’s imprint all over the space. How could he not when she sat across from him, next to Kit on the small sofa? If he were honest, he’d admit he hadn’t shaken the sense of warmth and charged energy she’d left with him at the station.
First things first.
“Annie’s going to be your right hand through all of this, Kit. You have nothing to worry about. First, are you physically okay? Do you want a physical exam?”
Kit shook her head, much to Josh’s regret but not surprise. She looked at him with a hard expression. “He hasn’t hit me in almost a month. These bruises are old—I have very fair skin. I’ve been thinking about reporting him for a long time, ever since I came to the United States.”
“How long have you been in the States?” His records reflected she’d married Valensky five years ago.
“Six years. I was brought to New Jersey and introduced to Vadim at a strip club. He said he was going to give me a new life and he took me home. I trusted him, as much as I could, because he protected me from getting pimped out. I only ever had to dance in the club. We were married a year later.”
“How old were you then?”
“The records will say I was eighteen, because that’s what my fake passport says. But I was only sixteen when we married.”
Josh saw Annie’s chest visibly rise and fall, her shock evident. He got it. As many times as you read about these cases, it was always tough to see the victim, any victim, in person.
“So you were underage and forced into a marriage.” He pictured his own sister being treated so horribly, and knew he was going to do all it took to put Vadim Valensky behind bars. Along with his cohorts. The perfect timing of this wasn’t wasted on him. A chance to take down the Silver Valley rep to ROC, just as SVPD was assigned to help intercept and prevent another group of women smuggled from a former Soviet bloc nation to be sold into sex slavery. His nape tingled the way it always did when he was onto something valid in a case. He leaned in and listened to Kit’s every word.
“Vadim is a product of how he was raised, and his alcoholism. He’s never known any different. So this part I can almost forgive, as I’ve learned to avoid him when he’s drunk. If I wanted to see Vadim go to jail for hurting me, I could have already done it, but I have to save anyone else they want to hurt.”
“Other women, and whatever else Vadim’s doing, aren’t your business, Kit. He’s a threat to you. He could kill you with his bare hands if he decides to.” Annie’s professional skills were obvious as she tried to make Kit see the danger she was in.
Kit nodded. “I know that. But he’s involved in something far worse, and I want him and the men he works with to all go to jail. That’s why I’m here. To help get Vadim and his friends caught. They are horrible human beings.”
“Your safety has to come first, though. If anything happens to you, we won’t have a case. Right, Josh?”
Annie’s blue eyes saw through to his soul, and he wondered if she realized she’d said “we.” As if they were a team and working a case together. Which, practically speaking, they were.
“Yes and no. I’m going to file charges against him.” As the reporting officer, he had the right and obligation to press charges against Valensky. Standard SVPD procedure was for the police to press the charges in order to protect the domestic violence victim and ensure the abuser met justice. Too many victims recanted after their abusers once again intimidated and manipulated them. He silently damned the Podunk cop or sheriff who’d known what was going on with Valensky years ago but never pressed charges. It would have saved Kit from untold abuse.
Annie rubbed the place between Kit’s shoulders. “We’re going to keep you safe, Kit. It’s our job.”
Annie