Getting the Edge: Betrayed Book 1 Read online

  Mandy closed her eyes. “Fine,” she ground out.

  Brandon gave a fleeting smile, but it was gone before Mandy opened her eyes. Damn, but she was a stubborn woman. How had he forgotten that? “Good girl,” he said, taunting her. He knew she hated to be called a girl like that. The little devil inside him couldn’t resist.

  She glared at him, and turned to the doctor. “I’m sure I’m just worn out. We’ve been traveling for a bit, and I haven’t been sleeping too well.”

  “Let’s hope that’s all it is. I’m going to go order those tests. A nurse will be in to get you settled,” the doctor stated, then left the cubicle.

  Once they were alone, Mandy glared at Brandon. “Why did you bring me here?” she hissed.

  Brandon crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do you think? You were unconscious and lying on the ground. You didn’t stir when the medics came, and we’ve been here for quite a while. You somehow did a number on yourself, and I need to be sure you’ve healthy.”

  “What do you care?” she said. “It’s not like you care.”

  Brandon didn’t respond to the latter. “I need answers, and to get them, you need to be healthy. I’m not a bastard. Human decency requires me to be sure you are okay.”

  “I’ve told you over and over again. I have nothing to tell you. Look, just let me go. I won’t report you for kidnapping. I just want to go back.”

  Brandon tilted his head and studied her. “I’m not letting you out of my sight, Amanda. Just behave and let the doctor figure out what’s wrong with you so we can get out of here.”

  “You’re wrong you know,” she said.

  “And what am I wrong about?”

  “You said you weren’t a bastard. You’re wrong.”

  “Why? Because I won’t let you do something incredibly stupid?” he snapped, irritation clearly showing on his face. He studied her for a long moment, then suddenly smiled. “No, it’s not because of that, is it? It’s because you know I’m right,” he said smugly.

  Mandy narrowed her eyes. “You think so?”

  He grinned. “Yeah, I think.” There was something fun about baiting her. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it, and obviously she didn’t like it. Too damn bad. He didn’t much care if she liked it or not.

  Slowly, the grin left his face. For just a moment, he’d almost forgotten what she’d done to him. He couldn’t afford to forget what she’d done—and what she was capable of doing—for even one second. “Just give it up, Amanda. We will leave here when the doctor decides you are okay.”

  Amanda just continued to glare up at him. “Aren’t you worried about being found? Isn’t there some rule that says you had to stay back home?”

  Oh, wouldn’t she like that, he thought grimly. Of course he was not supposed to be here—not that he cared. He’d served his full sentence. He wasn’t on parole. He’d been released. He’d waived his parole hearing on purpose. He didn’t want to be locked into that type of supervision. It had been worth the extra year. Still, he was sure that there would be some form of an OOP—order of protection—that would prevent him from contacting her. There had been at some point, as he’d been served with it—in prison. “Oh, I don’t know—is there? Does anyone back home even know where you are?”

  He watched as her eyes hooded. Hmm, so she hadn’t gotten a protection order? That surprised him. Why? “Does anyone know where you are?” he repeated when she remained silent.

  “Of course,” she said.

  Amanda prayed that he’d believe her. Somehow, she had to make him leave. He was in danger, and she couldn’t even tell him. If they found out…she shuddered inwardly. She didn’t even want to think about what they would do to him if they knew he was here.

  Of course, she’d been careful, but obviously not careful enough if he’d managed to find her so quickly. She sighed. If she was honest with herself, part of her had wanted him to find her. She was so tired of being alone.

  Before she could say more, the doctor came back into the room with a nurse. She was looking at Brandon, and didn’t notice the nurse inject something into her IV. She felt a warm flush, then light headed. Oh God, they’ve given me pain medication! That could be bad, very bad. She had absolutely no tolerance for medication.

  Just as quickly as she had that thought, she giggled. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

  Brandon gave Mandy a quizzical look. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  The doctor answered before Amanda could. “It’s the pain medication. It’s making her a bit giddy. Perfectly normal, I assure you.”

  Brandon nodded and found himself grinning. He should have remembered; once she’d been given something at the dentist, and she’d been a virtual talkaholic for hours. “Feeling better?”

  “Uh huh,” she said and giggled again.

  “We’re going to get you settled into a room soon.”

  “Don’t like hospitals,” she mumbled with a pout.

  “Tough,” Brandon said good naturedly. “We’ve had this discussion already.”

  “Don’t think I like you either,” she muttered under her breath.

  “That’s okay, too,” he replied. Hell would freeze over before he admitted that he felt a sting at those words. He didn’t give one good damn what she thought of him. He wouldn’t allow himself to.

  The doctor chuckled. “The tech will be here in just a bit. Keep her company.”

  “I plan on it,” he agreed readily.

  Her eyes started to droop, and Brandon knew she’d be asleep in a few moments. When they were alone, he sat next to her and studied her. God, she really did look awful. Her eyes had circles beneath them, and she was deathly pale. He wondered what she’d done with herself. He’d spent the time in a cell and didn’t look as pale as she did.

  “Go ahead and sleep, Amanda. You’re safe,” he said very quietly.

  “Not safe,” she muttered, her eyes closing. “I had to do it. Had to protect Brandon.”

  Brandon’s head snapped up. What the hell? He opened his mouth to demand she tell him what she’d meant by that, but realized by her even breathing that she was sound asleep.

  Well, hell. It was going to be a very long night.

  Chapter Eight

  By the time the nurse got Amanda settled in her room, she was snoring lightly, which made Brandon smile against his will. She’d snored when she’d had pain medication before, he remembered, and he’d teased her about it.

  As he sat next to her, his mind kept returning to their first meeting. It seemed like it had been years ago now, instead of a short two and a half years. He’d fallen hard—and had believed she’d felt the same. Obviously, he’d been wrong.

  The remnants of the smile left his face. No, he wasn’t going to fall for any more of her lies. It was time for the truth. Even as he had the thought, though, he wondered once more what she’d meant when she said she did it to protect him.

  How in the world could she think that putting him in prison would do anything but destroy his entire life?

  He’d been a damn good cop. That was how they’d met, in fact. She’d been the only witness to a brutal murder. At first, he’d only been concerned with keeping her safe, but all the time they’d spent together and he’d found himself falling in love with her.

  Since she’d refused to go into witness protection, he’d insisted that she stay with him. He hadn’t told anyone at work—but at least she’d been safe. There was little doubt that if the man responsible for the murder could get to her that he would.

  Now, he found himself wondering if she’d really even been a witness at all.

  His mind replayed that fateful day that everything had gone so wrong…

  “Detective Walsh, we’ve just gotten a report of an assault on the woman that witnessed that murder six months ago or so.”

  Brandon’s heart stopped. “Amanda Wilson?” he asked with his heart in his throat.

  The desk sergeant looked down at a piece of paper. “Yeah, that’s
the name. She’s over at County right now. The ER called it in.”

  Brandon spun around and ran from the building. He didn’t even remember the drive to the ER.

  He flashed his badge at the harried nurse at the ER admissions desk. “Amanda Wilson,” he snapped. “What room?”

  The nurse looked at him with a frown, but looked down at her computer. “She’s in cubicle six, but you can’t go back there just yet, the doctors…”

  Brandon didn’t hear anything else past the room number. He ran through the doors and found the curtained room marked six and yanked the curtain back.

  “Oh my God,” he muttered hoarsely. Amanda’s face was swollen; both her eyes were blackened and nearly swollen shut. There was a cut on her lip that a female doctor was stitching closed.

  He walked to her and took her hand. “I’m here, love. I’m here.”

  “Sir, you need to wait outside,” the doctor admonished. “No visitors are approved at this point, per the police.”

  Brandon held up his badge. “I am the police.”

  The doctor frowned, but continued with her work. Brandon stood silently holding Mandy’s hand as he waited for her to finish. He knew Mandy couldn’t talk when someone was sewing her lip closed.

  His mind was racing. The trial for the murderer she’d identified was due to start in a week. He’d been so careful! How had they found her?

  Finally, the doctor put down her instruments. “Keep the questions to a minimum, Officer. It’s going to be quite painful for Miss Wilson to speak.”

  Brandon nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell me what happened, sweetheart,” he said gently.

  Amanda looked at him. Her eyes were so swollen, he was surprised she could open see him at all. “Go away,” she said dully, her voice slurred due to the swelling on her mouth.

  Brandon shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere, love. I’m so sorry.”

  Brandon whirled around when another voice intruded.

  “You should be, Walsh.”

  Brandon’s head swung around. “Excuse me? Who the hell are you?”

  “Detective Henderson. IAB.”

  Brandon was confused. What the hell was Internal Affairs doing here? This was an assault on a protected witness. It had nothing to do with IAB. “Why are you here? What the hell happened to Amanda?”

  Henderson walked into the small cubicle. “You will need to come with me, Detective Walsh,” was the only reply.

  Brandon looked at Mandy. “I’ll be right back, love,” he said. He knew that there would be hell to pay for his becoming involved with a witness, but just then, he didn’t give a damn.

  He stood and followed the other detective from the room.

  “All right, tell me what’s going on here. Have they caught the assailant? Was it Grogen and his goons?” Grogen was supposed to be locked up, but Brandon wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d somehow arranged bail. He had a lot of friends.

  Henderson’s face contorted in disgust. “You know damn well what happened to that young lady, Walsh. You beat the hell out of her.”

  A soft moan brought him out of his musings.

  “Thirsty,” Amanda whispered.

  Brandon grabbed the cup next to the bed and filled it with the ice water the tech had left. He held it to her lips when her hand shook as she tried to grab it. “Just drink,” he growled as she tried to take it from him.

  Mandy gave in and took a much needed sip from the straw, glaring.

  Brandon waited until she was done, then sat the cup down on the bedside stand. “We need to talk,” he said quietly.

  She sighed. “I think we’ve said everything there is to say. I know exactly what you think of me.”

  “Why did you say you did it to protect me?” he asked softly.

  Amanda’s eyes widened. What did I say? “Excuse me?”

  “I’m not in the mood for games, Mandy. Tell me what happened. We both know I didn’t beat the shit out of you. I’ve never raised a hand to a woman in my life—but so help me, I’m just about ready to flip you across my lap right now,” he growled.

  “So much for not hitting women,” she snapped.

  “That’s right,” he agreed. “But I didn’t say I wouldn’t spank a petulant child.”

  “I’m not a child!”

  Brandon tilted his head and almost grinned. Well, at least she had some color to her cheeks, now. “Then stop acting like one.” And damned if he wouldn’t get that spanking in, too!

  She puffed out her cheeks and sighed. “What do you want me to say, Brandon? I can’t talk about it.”

  “Amanda, I need to know. More than that, I deserve to know. You cost me my job, my friends and my freedom. Remember?”

  “What do you think I cost myself?” she hissed, sliding up and glaring at him. “I’ve been running and hiding. What kind of freedom do you think I’ve had?”

  “You haven’t been locked in a damn cage twenty-three hours a day, have you?”

  “No. I haven’t,” she admitted. “Look, Brandon, just let me go. I don’t want to fight anymore. I just want to live my life.”

  “Yeah, so do I!”

  “Then go home and leave me alone, Brandon. There is nothing I can tell you. Don’t you understand? I can’t tell you! Even if I wanted to, I can’t.”

  Brandon saw the truth in her words. My God, she’d been forced. All this time, he’d hated her—and she’d been forced. It was his turn to pale.

  He’d stood to give her the water, but now, he slumped into the chair next to the bed. “Tell me,” he said softly.

  Mandy felt her eyes burn with tears, but she didn’t let them fall. She’d cried enough. Months’ worth. Tears would solve nothing. “Brandon, please. Just go home. Pretend you never found me. It’s safer for both of us.” God, how she wished she’d done something different.

  For so long, she’d thought each and every day about admitting the lie—but she hadn’t. She’d had to protect him—and it was the only way she could.

  “I’m not going anywhere. At least not until you tell me what’s going on. Someone beat you—who was it?”

  “I don’t know,” Mandy whispered.

  “Mandy, how can you not know?”

  “He wore a mask, Brandon. I never saw his face.” She sighed and ran a shaking hand over her face. “I couldn’t tell you if I did.”

  “Why?”

  Mandy wanted to scream, but she didn’t. It would solve nothing. “Because, Brandon, if you go after them, they will kill us both. They warned me not to say anything, or more people would die.”

  Chapter Nine

  Brandon suddenly realized that he wasn’t really surprised by her words. Part of him had figured out already that something had been terribly wrong from the moment that damn IAB ass, Henderson, had accused him of beating Amanda. If only he’d been able to talk to her, maybe this could have all been avoided. “I can protect you, Mandy. You have to know I’d protect you with my life.”

  “That’s the problem! If you don’t stay away with me, it could mean your life!”

  “Amanda, I can take care of myself—and if you’d trusted me, I’d have told you that two years ago,” he growled. “How could you believe I wouldn’t protect you? Besides, Grogen is dead. He was killed. Weren’t you notified?” He wouldn’t let himself be swayed by the brightness of tears in her eyes. He needed to understand. “I’m going to call Kevin and let him know what’s going on here,” he decided. “He can help us.”

  Mandy started to shake her head. “No.”

  “No? Mandy, we need help. I need to know what’s been going on.”

  “You can’t tell anyone where I am! Look, I’ll call the police back home and tell them I lied. But you can’t tell anyone where I am!” Her tone was nearly hysterical and Brandon touched her face.

  “Shh. Okay. For now, I won’t do anything. You need to rest. We’ll talk when they let you out of here.”

  “I can’t,” she said shakily, her eyes closing. “Please, I
can’t. Grogen was only part of it.”

  “Just sleep, baby. I promise, it’ll be all right. I’m going to make sure it’s all right.” It was a threat and a promise.

  Mandy didn’t respond, and he realized that she had actually fallen asleep. The meds had kicked in.

  As Mandy slept, Brandon considered the situation. He still thought that he should call Kevin. If anyone could help, it was his attorney—he had connections. But, he’d promised he wouldn’t do anything until they’d talked.

  As he watched her, he wondered yet again why she didn’t believe he’d have been able to keep her safe. It hurt more than he wanted to admit that she hadn’t trusted him to do so. Obviously, someone had to have contacted her that fateful night. He hadn’t been scheduled to work that night; but his schedule wasn’t ever the same. It largely depended on the case he was currently focusing on. He’d been just out driving around—of all things, because he’d been trying to think of a way to ask her to marry him. He’d had no alibi. None at all.

  So, why had she allowed herself to be beaten so badly? What did someone think he knew that could harm them? Was it because they thought he’d been getting too close?

  He couldn’t remember all the facts from the cases he’d been working, but it had been another murder—very similar to the one she’d seen. Too much had happened—but he did remember that he’d been convinced that the two murders were connected. Both the murder that Amanda had witnessed and the second were execution style. He’d been even more careful with Mandy. All of his off-time was spent with her. He’d insisted she stay with him. She’d been worried that his captain would find out and that he’d get in trouble. Nothing he’d said at the time had convinced her not to worry, but his place was secure. Very few people knew where he lived. Well, at least the house that he’d moved to with her.

  After that night she’d been assaulted and had accused him, he just figured it was because she was in on whatever was going on. Willingly. It hadn’t dawned on him that there could have been a good reason. Only he had seen the truth when she’d been testifying. No one else had seen the lies that he’d seen. She’d cried as she’d been testifying. The jury, of course, hadn’t taken any time at all to come back with a guilty verdict. He’d been damn lucky he’d only been given two years.