When We Break Read online

  When We Break

  Cheryl Phipps

  When We Break Copyright © 2020 by Cheryl Phipps

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Please Note: When We Break was previously published as Bend But Never Break.

  When We Break Cover Copyright © 2020 by Clover Designs

  For my husband

  Your belief in me when I doubted made my dreams come alive.

  Love you infinity and fifty! ;-)

  xx

  Contents

  When We Break

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  The Millionaire Next Door

  Also by Cheryl Phipps

  Books by C. A. Phipps

  About the Author

  When We Break

  She’s in danger from two men.

  One wants her dead.

  The other wants more than she can give.

  Talia’s desperate search to find her daughter takes her to a small island where danger lurks in every shadow. Her ex-husband, a brutal and unstable foe won’t shake her resolve no matter his threats—or worse.

  Detective Nick Foster has had a drug in his sight for years. Finally, with a chance to put him away for good, Talia forces her way into the investigation and things go terribly wrong. Described as cold and clinical, just the way he likes it, somehow this determined woman gets under his skin.

  Now, not only is he on the back foot with the suspect, he’s out of his depth with the woman he wants to protect. This puts the entire case at risk, and raise the stakes for everyone.

  The clock is ticking, and Talia and Nick risk losing everything that matters.

  Prologue

  Nick welcomed the familiar rush of adrenaline pumping through his system. The men he’d been tailing carried something down the alley. Now they exited empty-handed. His mind went down several paths, but there was only one way to find out if the worst-case scenario was a fact. Waiting for several minutes to make sure they weren’t going to return, he warily entered the alley.

  After a few steps, the darkness enveloped him like a winter cloak, without the associated warmth and reassurance. Wrapping itself tighter with each step, it threatened to smother him. He refused to be claustrophobic. Gingerly, he felt the rough brick wall with one hand and stretched the other arm in front of his face in case he walked into something. Sliding the tip of his shoe forward to avoid tripping, he moved forward, one cautious step at a time.

  His breathing sounded loud in the stillness of the night, and it seemed an age before his hand finally pressed against something hard, just as his toes stubbed the same object. Biting back a foul word, he felt along the side and realized he’d hit a dumpster. Perhaps they’d merely been getting rid of the trash, although if that had been the case, they’d not need to be so furtive about entering and leaving. Clearly, they didn’t anticipate being tailed, which made Nick’s off-duty surveillance a piece of cake.

  Turning to check how far he’d come, he noted that the alley’s mouth had disappeared into the darkness. It might be safe now to use the torch on his phone, and as he switched it on, he heard a faint noise. Straining to locate the source, he was rewarded with another sound. Whatever made it was inside the dumpster.

  Throwing back the lid and gagging a little at the stench, he shone the torch around the interior. A large rug lay upon a pile of stinking rubbish, and something inside the folds made it move slightly. Flipping open one end and praying he was wrong, Nick was shocked to expose a semi-naked female body. Tentatively touching two fingers to her neck, he could discern a faint pulse. She was alive - barely. As gently as he could, he lifted the woman out of the bin and laid her, still partially wrapped in the rug, onto the concrete.

  “Lie still. I’m going to call an ambulance.” Nick wasn’t sure if she could hear him, so he took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He pulled out his phone and began to make the call when he felt her clutch feebly at his arm.

  “No! Please!” she begged through gritted teeth. “My baby! Where’s my baby?” The exertion caused her to pass out.

  Holding his phone close to her so that the screen gave him some light, he nearly gasped at the sight of her disfigured face, but at least he was now certain who she was; there was no mistaking that hair. The beautiful auburn curls he’d felt a desire to run his hands through on more than one occasion were now tangled and partially matted with blood.

  He needed no explanations. He knew to whom she’d been married, and that sorry excuse for a man would have had a hand in this – there wasn’t a shred of doubt in Nick’s mind. Looking down at the woman he barely knew, the one he’d been fascinated and frustrated with in equal measure, he sighed deeply. She’d been stunning, and if he got her to the right people, she might be again, but the real issue was how he could keep her safe. It would be better for her if her ex-husband believed she was dead, at least for now.

  With grim determination, he cracked his knuckles, shrugged out of his coat, and wrapped her in it before returning the blood-soaked carpet to the dumpster. There was only one person he trusted, and who was capable of doing what was needed. New Zealand might be the epitome of a clean, green country, but there was always going to be scum who plagued his existence. Rarely did they change, but Kirk had, and over the years, they’d become friends. Being an ex-criminal, Kirk had many contacts, and more importantly, he knew the value of secrecy.

  Chapter One

  The pain was excruciating. Every inch of her body hurt in varying degrees. Even childbirth had not been this bad. A pain far greater penetrated the fog of her brain and pierced her chest. Chloe—her baby—was she safe? Talia forced her eyes open and then closed them tight as the brightness stung enough to bring tears. Bringing an arm up to shade them, she tentatively tried again.

  Everything was blurry, but she could make out someone sitting in a chair across the room, and her heart sunk. No doubt it was one of her ex-husband’s goons waiting on Randall’s latest orders. Apparently, having her beaten senseless wasn’t enough. What more would she have to endure before he eventually killed her? Because that was surely the only way, Randall would ever let her go.

  She pushed aside the wall of self-pity that threatened to topple onto her. Somehow, she’d survived, and therefore she might still have a chance to get Chloe away from him. This was all the encouragement she needed to keep fighting.

  Talia lifted her head from the pillow and gasped with pain. The bed did an excellent carousel impersonation. Laying back with a groan, she willed
it to stop spinning before she threw up.

  The chair creaked, and soft footsteps approached.

  “Lie still. You mustn’t move.”

  She turned her head to face him. “Which one are you?” Her voice was raspy from disuse. He came closer, and although she could see him better, she still had no idea who he was.

  He frowned. “Pardon?”

  “Which one of Randall’s hoods are you?”

  “I don’t work for Randall Hughes. You can relax, Talia, you’re miles away from him. You’re safe. He won’t find you here.”

  “Safe?” She would have laughed, but there was nothing remotely funny about her situation. “I’m alive, which makes me about as far from safe as possible without being dead. If you’re not with Randall, then who are you?”

  “I’m Nick Foster—a detective. I’ve been tailing you and your ex-husband for some time.”

  “Where’s my daughter?” Talia barked.

  Right now, her only concern was finding Chloe. Although, she could take an educated guess why her husband was being followed.

  He suddenly looked more guarded. “All I know is that your daughter was last seen with a nanny a few days ago.”

  “A few days?” Talia tried to think of the time frame between going to see Randall and now, but drew a blank. How long have I been here? And where exactly am I?”

  “You’re at my friend’s house. Kirk’s been looking out for you. He took you to a doctor he knows and then brought you back here when you were stable. No one knows you’re here apart from Kirk and me, and you’ve been here for a week.”

  “That can’t be right.” She shook her head and winced. Foggy memories surfaced of being spoon-fed and washed by a stranger. Had it been this detective or someone else?

  “Careful. The doctor thinks you might have a concussion,” he said, touching her shoulder gently.

  Talia wanted to scream at him not to come near her, but the look she gave him must have been enough, as he drew back from the bed. The only person she wanted to touch was Chloe, and her heart ached, more than any injury, that she couldn’t do it right now. A tear leaked from her gritty eyes, and she looked away.

  “When you feel up to it, get Kirk to ring me. We have a lot to discuss, and I think we can help each other.”

  Talia turned to see him walking toward the door, and she panicked. What if he didn’t come back? “Wait. Let’s talk now.”

  He stopped and faced her. “There’s no hurry. You need to get better first.”

  “I need my daughter safe. Tell me how you can help me do that.”

  He hesitated, then picked up the chair by the door and brought it close to the bed. He was tall. Even seated, she had to look a long way up to meet his eyes. They were a piercing blue, and Talia felt that they could look into her innermost thoughts. Nice though he might seem, how could she ever trust him? Too late, she’d found out Randall had had his hooks in everywhere, including the police force.

  “We’ll be monitoring his every move, and by catching Randall in the act of one of his deals, we can put him away for a very long time. At this moment, Randall has no idea you’re alive, so he thinks he’s safe. I know it’s not exactly what you want to hear, but it’s a start. Do you remember anything from that night?’

  “I remember those animals enjoying every moment of the beating they gave me. I guess they were pretty annoyed about losing so much money.”

  His eyes widened. “I’d say they were more than annoyed about it since they left you in a dumpster to die. It seems they were pretty determined not to have you show up again, which is to our advantage.”

  “How so?’

  “We have it on good authority that a new shipment will be arriving by sea in two months. If you can help with any information, that would be great, but when we get Randall, and we will this time, I’d like you to testify for the prosecution.”

  “Let me get this straight—you have no intention of getting my daughter back from that monster for another two months? Forget that!’

  “Talia, if I could, I’d pick her up tomorrow, but that wouldn’t solve anything.”

  “I don’t give a damn about solving anything–I just want my daughter. Can’t you understand that?’

  “I do understand, but it can’t happen any faster. With you out of the way, Randall will let his guard down, and it’ll be easier to know where Chloe is at all times. If he suspected you were alive, he’d hide her away and,” he shrugged his shoulders in apology, “he’s very good at covering his tracks, as you well know.”

  It was the first time the detective had alluded to her involvement in Randall’s smuggling operation, and blood suffused her face. “I didn’t know what Randall was up to until that last day, and I didn’t cover up a damn thing.”

  “If I didn’t believe that, you wouldn’t be here—you’d be in a prison hospital.”

  His words shocked her, although they shouldn’t have. Even when she’d still been living with him, she’d realized that Randall did not operate to the letter of the law. In fact, it had been her unwillingness to be involved outright that had led to the separation. She might even have gone to the police herself, but an unplanned pregnancy prevented that. From the first moment, she’d held Chloe, looked into that sweet innocent face, nothing had mattered more to her—not her job, her good name, not even her life.

  “Forgive me that I’m not more appreciative, but a lot could happen in a couple of months, especially around a man like Randall, which means my daughter would be at risk that whole time.”

  “We have someone on the inside who’s watching out for her as we speak. If anything changes or she’s not being looked after, then I’ll step in. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a better solution, but if we barge in there now, Randall will have the custody tied up in court. He’s got enough money that he can buy witnesses to say that you were an unfit mother, and it would be your word against his that he ordered you beaten up.”

  “But you said you believed me!’

  He nodded. “I do, and we took some photos of you from that day, but it still won’t be enough. Even knowing who did this to you, we can’t prove Randall authorized the beating. Just about everything we have is hearsay, and the rest won’t stick. We need concrete proof he’s the monster we know him to be.”

  Talia looked away, and for the first time, took stock of her badly damaged body. She was in pain, but they must be giving her something damn strong because she’d only just realized her other arm was in plaster, and her legs, sticking out from under her nightie, were black and blue. Her face felt tight, and when she touched it with her good arm, she could feel a jagged line of stitches. There was no way she could attempt anything in this state.

  “If I do what you want, then you’ll guarantee Chloe’s safety?’

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I’ll do everything in my power to ensure it.”

  “That’s not the same thing, is it?”

  “I don’t make promises lightly.”

  She wanted to believe him and needed him to make that promise desperately. But two months? How could she live without seeing Chloe for that long? “Maybe you could take me to where she is, and I could see her through a fence or something?’

  “I couldn’t allow that. However, I could get our person to send a video or a photo regularly. Would that help?’

  Her chin dropped to her chest. “I guess it’s better than nothing. How do I know this person will take care of Chloe properly? I don’t know if she’s eating right, or if she’s safe.”

  “I know it’s not perfect, but I’ve been told that she’s happy and healthy. If I hear she’s been hurt in any way, I will intervene, I promise you.”

  “If it’s not too late,” she said miserably.

  “The person inside is more than capable of keeping your daughter safe.”

  “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

  “I’m sorry, Talia, but not at this stage. I have to go, but Kirk will come up and introduce himself, and there’s a
buzzer here if you need anything.”

  “When will you be back?” Talia hated the desperation in her voice, but even though Nick was a stranger, he gave her hope and made her feel less panicked.

  “I’ll be back in a few days. Kirk will provide anything you need, but if I can help some other way, just tell him, and he’ll contact me.”

  He didn’t leave with any platitudes, and for that, she was grateful, but without his presence, the room suddenly felt too big, and the fear came back with a vengeance. Was she doing the right thing? After losing her whole family in a boating accident a couple of years ago, and then having to deal with Randall’s abuse, losing Chloe would kill her.

  Chapter Two

  It was nearly two weeks later when, after punching in the code, Nick drove through the security gates and followed the driveway around to the back of the house. According to Kirk, Talia was doing better than he had expected. They’d agreed to let her think that Kirk had been the one to find her since they felt it would be easier to accept living with a stranger for the length of time she needed to.