He’d failed them. All of them.
Bethany.
Jason.
Austin.
Even Pete.
Lindsey lay a hand on Todd’s thigh, unable to go another second without offering whatever comfort she had to give. Her touch seemed to startle him out of the dark thoughts that had turned his entire body rigid. He glanced around the room, eyes a bit wild.
They were still alone.
After a few beats, he covered her hand with his own, his fingers uncharacteristically cold. “Bethany died instantly,” he said, his voice scorched.
Lindsey sucked in a breath. Oh, God. What an awful thing to witness, to feel responsible for.
“We grew up together. So close she was more like a sister. And I had to tell my aunt and uncle...” He stared at the seat in front of him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, feeling wholly inadequate.
“Jason survived, but it was a close thing.” Todd clenched his jaw. “He was still in the hospital when I left town. His leg is now held together with rods and pins, and I have no idea what his future looks like.”
“Ouch.” She turned her palm up and squeezed his hand, taking a deep breath. “And the boy?” she asked, tentatively, almost scared of the answer.
“Austin’s fine. Well, unharmed anyway. He lives with my aunt and uncle in Stillwater now. He’s only a year old, so he won’t have any memories of the shooting, but he’ll grow up without his parents. Knowing that his dad killed his mom.” Todd dropped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck. And that I killed his dad.”
Her heart crumpled. “No, he’ll grow up knowing that you saved his life, and tried to protect her. That you avenged her. Besides, you didn’t have a choice.” Lindsey could hardly stand watching him agonize over the loss of a man who’d killed his own wife, who’d planned to help kill Lindsey too. She shuddered, the horror rising anew. “Pete made that choice for you.”
“Only because I was at the cabin. After he escaped his house, when the trail went cold and the police stopped actively looking, I decided to hunt him down and ensure he faced justice.”
She forced herself not to retreat from his touch. “You intended to kill him all along?”
“What?” His brow furrowed. “No. I planned to find him and alert the cops.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this beforehand?” Now, she better understood the reasoning behind his argument to go to the compound without her. If he’d told her the truth, would she have let him go after Megan alone?
Not likely.
“I should have.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to doubt me, to think I was only going up there because of Pete.”
Well. She sat back. It didn’t get any more straight than that. “Were you?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s my point. I would’ve gone after Megan with or without you, Pete or no. There was no guarantee he was there. I was just following a lead.”
She hadn’t doubted him before. And, honestly, she didn’t doubt him now. God help her, she believed everything. But Megan’s betrayal—and her own inability to see it—struck deep. Could she afford to trust Todd again so easily?
It came down to motive. Megan had needed to hide her unlawful activity. What could Todd’s motive be for lying to Lindsey now? Running into her had complicated his life in every way.
Except motives could be invisible, unexpected. She couldn’t see inside his head to know what unfathomable rationale he might have. But her mom always said, “Words mean nothing. Actions mean everything.” Actions were something Lindsey could see. Todd’s very first act had been to pull her off a cliff, and every single thing he’d done since then had been to protect her. Fighting for her, treating her wounds, carrying her, feeding her, concealing and clothing her. Killing for her.
He’d risked his own life for hers from the moment they’d met, and hadn’t once stopped.
So, yeah, she trusted him. “I’m glad you chose to follow Pete to Montana,” she said. “If you hadn’t, those men would’ve caught me and I’d probably be dead.” Just the thought of it made her body turn cold.
His expression hardened as he squeezed her hand and met her gaze. “For that reason alone, I can’t regret it.”
Desire flared to life, her body’s memory of their lovemaking heating her blood and urging her toward him. And desire was far preferable to the shattered sensation provoked by recent events. “For what it’s worth—“ she leaned over to whisper in his ear “—you’re still my end-of-the-world pick.”
His faint smile as she pulled back made her heart flutter. “And with such incredible competition,” he said dryly, gesturing to the empty auditorium as the lights dimmed and the tinny music cut out. “I’m honored.”
“Don’t forget the kid at the counter. All that untapped potential.”
“Maybe a little too untapped.” He set the tub of popcorn near his feet, wiped his hands on a napkin, and shifted closer, his smile slowly leaching away as he searched her face, his gaze landing on her mouth. “Lindsey.” Her name fell rough-hewn from his lips, turning her pulse manic. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, the brush of his fingers making it hard to breathe.
She should’ve resisted, protected herself, but she couldn’t make herself do it. They were alive, and that was worth celebrating. Instead, she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that went from tentative to desperate in an instant.
His mouth was both soft and urgent, melting away all the stress and fear, flooding her body with a new kind of tension, a taut need that twisted her up inside. This was pure truth. The electric feel of his skin, the champagne bubbles of desire that buzzed through her veins, the fiery lust that chased away her chills.
One of them moaned and she pressed closer, ignoring the armrest that dug into her ribs.
Splat.
She pulled back, startled. The nachos had hit the floor, cheese side down, of course. “Shit.”
Todd blew out a breath and bit his lip. “Sorry.”
“I’m not.” She used a few napkins to scoop as much of the gooey pile back into the paper dish as possible. “They were pretty terrible.”
He chuckled.
“My only regret is that we wasted your money on them,” she said.
“My only regret is that dropping them made you pull away.”
It was her turn to laugh, a nervous release, even as her stomach did a slow roll. She might never get used to his directness, but it was one of the things she liked about him. Heat crept into her cheeks. She wanted to kiss him again with a startling intensity, but a little voice inside her whispered that it was a bad idea. That damned prudence.
“Hey.” He sat back in his seat and waited until she looked at him. “It’s okay. A lot has happened since last night.” Last night. When they’d made love. Twice. “So, as much as I’d like to pick up right where we left off, I get it if you’re not there with me.”
She was though. Right there with him. Ready to jump right back into his arms.
Maybe partly because even now he protected her. He didn’t push, didn’t ridicule, didn’t call her a cocktease or worse. Unlike her asshole ex, Todd let her off the hook, even though she’d kissed him.
And now she wanted to do it again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TODD FORCED HIMSELF to look away from Lindsey and take a deep breath as he scanned the still empty theater. What the hell was he thinking? No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t kiss her again. Not right now. Even if he was interpreting the look on her face correctly, he needed to keep his wits about him, stay alert for potential threats, and make plans for every contingency.
He couldn’t do that when she looked at him with so much heat in her eyes. Despite her disheveled appearance she was beautiful. Her resilience and capacity for humor under the circumstances only made her more impressive.
Any other time, he would have dragged her into his arms and shown her exactly how he felt. Right now, he needed to st
ow those thoughts and focus.
“Can you explain something about Megan?” he asked, desperate for a distraction, and also curious.
Lindsey frowned. “What’s that?”
“I got that she was laundering money for the sheriff somehow, but I don’t understand why she went after you.”
“Cruz must’ve told her I was investigating her customers.”
Todd’s jaw clenched. He wanted to throttle this Cruz asshole. Not only had he cheated on Lindsey—the most incredible woman in the fucking universe—his actions had nearly gotten her killed. “Why were you doing that?”
Lindsey sighed. “Because she hired me to do her taxes. It was late in the game, and everything was so disorganized that I had to file for an extension just to get it done. As I went through her payment processor statements to verify the gross receipts, there were an inordinate number of purchases from a handful of companies through only one or two affiliate accounts. I’d expected most of her customers to be individuals or small businesses coming from all over the place.
“I mean, sure, one affiliate member can drive a lot of traffic if they have a large newsletter list or social media audience, but the customer base should be broad, so I mentioned it to Meg.”
Todd frowned. This kind of thing wasn’t his strong suit. “What’s an affiliate exactly?”
“Oh, sorry.” Lindsey grimaced. “It’s someone who uses their own platform—website, social media, newsletter—to drive traffic to a business in exchange for a cut of the sales.”
“So someone with a popular blog about graphic design might promote Megan’s classes to his followers and she’d pay them for each sale?”
Lindsey smiled. “Exactly. Having a small number of successful affiliates wasn’t necessarily weird, but having so many of those purchases come from the same customer was.”
Todd scratched his beard. “So, whoever wanted to pay off the sheriff—for protecting gun or drug shipments, or whatever he’s up to—could buy one or more of Megan’s courses using the his affiliate link, and she’d get some of the money basically as a laundering fee?”
“Yep.”
“Damn,” he said. “That’s pretty brilliant.”
“And remarkably easy to set up, and hard to catch.”
“But you caught it.” Todd couldn’t hide his admiration.
She bit her lip. “I wasn’t sure. And I assumed, if I was right, that they were using Meg’s site without her knowledge.”
“What happened when you mentioned it to her?” he asked.
Lindsey looked at her lap, a crease forming between her dark brows. “She accused me of being jealous of her success. Of thinking that she wasn’t smart enough to make that kind of money without cheating.”
“Ouch. But you kept pressing?”
“Yes, but I told her I’d dropped it, because I didn’t want to bring it up again unless I had proof.” Lindsey absently stroked the napkin draped across her thigh. “I never wanted to hurt her. I was happy that her business was taking off. I thought I was protecting her.”
Todd covered her hand with his own. “What did you find?”
She flipped her hand palm up and twined her fingers with his. “Most of the businesses that bought big-ticket courses from her looked like shell companies, operating out of common tax haven countries like Cyprus. Theoretically, they could’ve been legit clients with lots of employees taking her classes, but the majority of purchases were for classes on how to start your own freelance business. Why would a company pay for that, and always through an affiliate? It raised some flags.”
“If it’s any consolation,” he said, “you were right.”
“I wish I wasn’t.” Her forlorn look tempted him to wrap her in his arms and kiss her until they both forgot all about Megan.
The phone in his pocket vibrated and Todd snatched it up immediately. Saved by the buzz. “Hey.”
“Brennan?” Kurt asked, his voice faint against the action movie preview currently playing on screen.
“Stand by.” Todd stood, releasing Lindsey’s hand, momentarily torn between leaving her alone and taking her with him. Both of them walking out for a phone call would look strange though, right? “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She frowned but nodded.
Jogging to the end of the aisle, he slipped through the door and stepped into the lobby. The kid was still behind the counter, but the place appeared otherwise deserted. Not wanting to lose sight of the door to the theater, Todd moved to the opposite corner of the open room. “Can you hear me?”
“That’s perfect. You still safe?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, here’s the deal. Ms. King-Okonkwo is on her way to you now. She’ll have everything you need including fresh phones and a secure place to stay.” Kurt relayed the woman’s cell phone number and the rest of the details. “Anything else?”
“Just thanks. To you and Scott. I owe you.”
“The only thing you owe me is a safe return,” Kurt said, sounding annoyed. “Scott might have other ideas.”
Todd scoffed, eyeballing everyone who passed outside the building’s big front windows. He could never give up his Steele crew. “Okay, man. See you soon.” God willing.
He ended the call and returned to the theater. Still empty except for Lindsey seated in the back corner. He let loose the breath he’d been holding, unwilling to examine all the reasons he didn’t want to be away from her.
“Everything okay?” she asked softly.
Sitting heavily as exhaustion settled into his limbs like concrete, he leaned close and said, “The lawyer’s on her way. Timing will be tight, but she should arrive right around the end of the movie.”
Lindsey visibly relaxed, gripping his hand hard. “I’m scared about turning ourselves in. I don’t know if I trust the system to get it right. But I’m so ready to stop running.”
“I’m scared too. This is a fucked-up situation, and there are no guarantees.” He should probably sugarcoat things, try to make her feel better, but she was a smart woman. She understood the world, that the justice system wasn’t always fair. What would be the point?
And supposedly, she preferred his thoughts straight up.
She gave him a wan smile and brought his knuckles up for a brief kiss. “I’m glad I’m not alone.”
Alone in her feelings, or physically? Either way… “Same.” He returned the gesture, pressing his lips to the back of her fingers, both wanting more, and somehow enjoying the comfort of this small act. “And I will do everything in my power to protect you. To make sure the right people go to jail.”
“Thank you.” She kissed him hard on the mouth, stopping long before he was ready. “Me too.”
He smiled. No woman besides his mother had ever declared her desire to protect him.
Lindsey blinked slowly, her body sagging with fatigue.
He curled his arm around her shoulder and held her close against his side, careful not to crush her against the metal armrest with its fraying upholstery. The contact soothed his nerves. “You can rest. I’ll keep watch.”
Her eyelids drifted closed. “Aren’t you tired?”
“It’s okay. I won’t be able to sleep.” Despite his weariness, he was wired, on alert for any threat. He couldn’t let his guard down while they were at risk.
“We should take turns.” Her voice slurred, and his heart tumbled.
Kissing her hair, he said, “I’ll take the first shift.”
She fell asleep with her head on his shoulder before Dwayne Johnson’s character learned about the fire in the high-rise that threatened his family.
By the time the credits started rolling, he was stiff and achy and ready to jump out of his skin. A still-dozing Lindsey was the only thing keeping him in his seat.
He moved to wake her when his phone buzzed with a text message from a recently programmed number.
The lawyer.
“She’s here.” The low voice slipped into Lindsey’s consciousness on a swell of musi
c. She’d been in that weird state of sleep where you hear everything going on around you, and think you’re awake, but then you wake up and realize you were having weird dreams inspired by the ambient sounds.
These days, though, it was hard for her dreams to be stranger than real life. Lindsey popped up in her seat, reality rushing in like the surf. A stream of names scrolled up the movie screen. Todd watched her, his face drawn and weary.
“You were supposed to wake me for the second watch,” she said.
“I just did. It starts now.” He rose and held out his hand. “The lawyer’s waiting outside.”
She let her pull him to her feet, still feeling sluggish even as her heart sped up at the thought of relying on another stranger and setting the process in motion to surrender to law enforcement.
“You want a drink?” Todd held out the massive soda cup and she took a swig of the warm, watery Coke.
Not great, but she was thirsty.
He scooped up the half-full popcorn bowl, which also held the remains of her nachos, and led the way down the aisle, dumping their trash in the bin. After they parted for a quick potty break, he met her outside the restroom door, taking her hand. “You ready? She’s parked two spots down on the left in a black Porsche Cayenne.”
Lindsey took a deep breath and nodded. Ready as she’d ever be. Todd gripped her hand and they strolled toward the exit as if they hadn’t a care in the world, his snow pants unnaturally loud in the quiet lobby. The kid behind the counter looked up as they passed and Todd offered a casual wave. The boy jerked his chin in acknowledgment and returned his attention to his phone.
“Head straight for the rear passenger side. We’ll get in the back.”
“Okay.” Even if splashing water on her face hadn’t helped shake off the remnants of sleep, venturing out of the perceived safety of the theater would’ve done it. Her body and brain went on high alert, muscles taut, nerves hypersensitive. She cataloged everyone she could see through the glass walls, and Todd must’ve been doing the same, since he hesitated before pushing open the door and leading her toward the old-fashioned ticket booth that sat under an overhang out front.
Blind Trust: A Military Romantic Suspense (Men of Steele Book 6) Page 13
