by Elle James
As he reached for the doorknob, a small voice called out.
“Mr. Stratford? Dix?”
With a groan, Andrew held tightly to Dix for a moment and waited to see if Leigha would go back to sleep.
“Dix?” she called out. “Mr. Stratford?”
“I’ll check on her.” Dix wiggled free of his grasp and dropped to her feet. She leaned close, kissed him and pressed her finger to the spot she’d warmed with her lips. “Hold that thought.”
She disappeared into Leigha’s room.
Andrew stood still, willing his body to calm before he entered his daughter’s room.
Dix lay on the bed beside Leigha, holding the child. “She’s thirsty. Do you want to stay with her while I go down for a glass of water?”
“I want you to stay.” Leigha clung to Dix, snuggling into the curve of her arm. “Please, Dix. Stay with me.”
Andrew raised a hand. “Stay here. I’ll go.”
Dix frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He performed an about-face and walked along the dimly lit landing to the stairs. Perhaps Leigha’s request was just what he needed to keep him from losing his head over Dix.
At the bottom of the steps, he turned toward the kitchen. Strategically located night-lights provided just enough light to see where he was going. When he arrived in the kitchen, he pulled a glass from the cabinet and filled it with cool water. He filled another for Dix and started back toward the stairs.
A sound in the sitting room caught his attention. His pulse quickened. What if someone had come through the secret corridor? He shook his head. Not possible. Not with a lock on the door.
Another sound made him stop and set the glasses of water on a side table. Had the twins come down to snoop around the house?
Anger burned in Andrew’s gut. He’d invited the two young men into his home. If they’d wanted to look around, all they’d had to do was ask. With words poised on the tip of his tongue, Andrew marched into the sitting room and reached for the light switch.
Before his fingers touched it, something hit him in the back of the head. He yelled, pain blinded him, and he dropped to the floor, complete darkness blocking out the soft glow of night-lights.
Chapter 15
As soon as Andrew left the room, his daughter had fallen back to sleep.
Dix rose from the bed and paced the length of the little girl’s room. The walls seemed too close, so Dix stepped out into the hallway. What was keeping Andrew?
What should she do about his request for her to stay in his room through the night? It was a recipe for disaster. The more time she spent with him, the harder it would be to leave. And she would leave. That itchy feeling she got when she stayed in one place too long would drive her away.
Dix leaned over the railing, searching the shadows below for signs of Andrew. As big as the house was, she doubted she’d hear the sound of him rustling around in the kitchen. Leaving Leigha again didn’t seem like a good idea, but Dix was getting nervous.
A muffled shout sounded from somewhere below followed by a heavy thud. “Andrew?” Dix called out. He didn’t answer. “Andrew!”
She ran back to her room for her gun and then raced for the stairs.
Two doors opened down the hall and the Kessler twins’ heads popped out.
“What’s wrong?” one of them asked.
“I don’t know. I thought I heard someone yell.” Dix dashed down the stairs, her heart pounding against her ribs. “Andrew?”
Footsteps sounded behind her as the two young men followed.
She hurried toward the kitchen, flipping light switches wherever she could find them.
The kitchen was empty with no sign of Andrew.
“I found him!” one of the twins yelled. “Call 9-1-1!”
Dix’s heart sank to the bottom of her belly as she followed the sound of the young man’s voice into the sitting room they’d all been in earlier.
Andrew lay on the floor, completely still.
Dix dropped down beside him, laid her gun on a table and carefully shook his arm. “Andrew.”
Jared pressed a hand to the base of his throat. “He’s got a pulse.”
Joe pointed to the knot forming on the back of Andrew’s head. “Looks like he was hit with something. Hit hard. That’s a big goose egg.”
Andrew groaned.
“Andrew?” Dix leaned close. “Can you hear me?”
“Shh,” he said. “You don’t have to shout. I’ve got a splitting headache.” He pushed against the floor but only managed to roll onto his back and wince. “Sweet heaven. That hurt.”
“You have a lump on the back of your head,” Jared said. “What happened?”
Andrew pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. I got a couple glasses of water to take upstairs. Heard a noise in the sitting room. Then nothing.” He sat up and swayed.
Jared and Dix slipped arms around his back and steadied him.
“We’re calling an ambulance,” Joe said.
“No.” Andrew shook his head once and cringed. “I’m okay...just need to wait until the room quits spinning.”
“We’re calling 9-1-1,” Dix seconded. “You could have a concussion or swelling on the brain.”
A scream silenced all of their arguments.
“Leigha.” Dix grabbed her gun, leaped to her feet and ran out of the room, calling back over her shoulder, “Don’t let him get up.”
“Like hell,” Andrew said.
She glanced back to see him lurching to his feet.
Jared and Joe slipped Andrew’s arms over their shoulders and ran with him.
Satisfied Andrew wouldn’t run up the stairs on his own, Dix raced to the second floor and burst into Leigha’s room. She sat up in bed, her eyes wide, tears streaming down her face.
“What’s wrong?” Dix asked, hurrying to her bedside.
“Fire was all around me. I couldn’t breathe because of the smoke. I was so afraid.” Leigha bent over, sobbing.
Dix slid the gun onto a dresser and then sat beside the child, pulling her into her arms. “Oh, sweetheart, it was just a bad dream.”
“No.” She shook her head, her eyes squeezing shut. “It was real. I was there. I couldn’t get out.”
“You’re okay now. Open your eyes. See? No smoke. No fire. Just your pretty bedroom.”
“Where’s my daddy?”
“I’m here.” Andrew broke free of Jared and Joe’s hold and walked slowly into the room. “I’m here, Leigha. I’ll always be here for you.”
She reached her arms up.
Andrew lifted her into his embrace.
Dix stood, ready to assist if Andrew passed out.
He didn’t. He held Leigha close, talking soft, soothing words.
“You saved me. I know it was you. I remember,” she said. “You saved me...” Leigha’s voice faded and she laid her cheek against his chest.
“Is everything okay?” Jared asked from the door.
“Is the little girl all right?” Joe whispered.
Dix nodded, her eyes stinging. “She had a bad dream.”
Jared stepped back. “We’ll check the house and make sure whoever did this is gone.”
Dix shot a glance at Andrew and Leigha and then walked over to the Kessler twins. “I’d rather you stayed to make sure Mr. Stratford doesn’t fall down holding his daughter.” She eased past them, snagging her gun from the top of the dresser. “I’ll check the house.”
Jared followed her out into the hallway and grabbed her arm. “You can’t do that. You could be hurt, too.”
Dix held up her gun. “I’ll be okay. I know how to use this.”
Jared raised his hands. “I believe you, but at least take one of
us with you. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
She didn’t need Joe or Jared getting in the way if she had to fire her weapon. But Jared was right. “Then you come with me. Joe can stay with Andrew and Leigha.”
Jared nodded, whispered instructions to his twin and followed Dix down the stairs.
They moved from room to room, checking everywhere. They didn’t find anyone or anything out of place.
Dix stood in the foyer, shaking her head. “After Leigha showed me the secret passage in the sitting room, I’m willing to bet there’s one, maybe two, more. Mr. Stratford and I checked all the windows and door locks. Whoever hit him had another way into the building.”
Jared stood with his back to Dix. “I don’t like it. He could still be here, listening to us talking.”
Dix didn’t like it, either. She’d have to stand guard through the night to make sure no one else was hurt. In the meantime, Andrew needed someone to look at him. He could be suffering from concussion. He might feel all right now, but if he had any swelling on his brain, he could be dead in minutes.
She sent Jared up to check on his brother, Andrew and Leigha while she called Tazer.
The SOS operative answered immediately. “I hear you have houseguests. Dave told me what happened earlier in the bay.”
“Dave?”
“My fiancé,” Tazer clarified. “He’s the dive boat captain who took the Kessler twins out today.”
“Oh, was that him?” Having just met Tazer, she hadn’t had the chance to meet her fiancé.
“Yeah,” Tazer said. “He said he got really worried about them when they didn’t come up on time. I can’t believe they were caught in kelp.”
“They’re lucky Dave went in after them. I take it Dave got back all right?”
“The Devil’s Shroud almost had him, but he made it back in time to see the marina.”
“I’m glad.” Dix drew in a deep breath and let it out before continuing. “I called because we had another attack here at Stratford House.”
“Want me to send the team over?”
“No. I think we have it under control. But Mr. Stratford refused to go to the hospital. I’m afraid he might have a concussion from being hit in the back of the head.”
“I’ll send Creed’s girl over. She’s a nurse at the Cape Churn hospital. Maybe she can convince one of the doctors to make a house call. Either way, she can at least check him out. He might listen to her if she thinks he needs to go to the hospital.”
“Thanks.” Dix started to hang up.
“Are you sure you don’t need reinforcements?” Tazer asked.
“No. I’ll stand watch tonight.”
“You need sleep, too,” Tazer reminded her.
“I’ve pulled all-nighters before in worse places than this. Try standing knee-deep in a foxhole filled with freezing water, while a thunderstorm rages overhead. This will be a cakewalk.”
Tazer snorted. “Must be all that Ranger training.” She paused. “Okay, but I’ll be over in the morning to give you a break. Even Rangers need to sleep. Be on the lookout for Emma Jenkins. If I can get her on the phone, she’ll be out there within the next thirty minutes.”
Dix ended the call and hurried back to Leigha’s room.
Jared and Joe stood out in the hall, talking softly. When she approached, they straightened.
Jared stepped forward. “Mr. Stratford lay down with his daughter. We’re not sure that’s a good idea. Aren’t you supposed to keep concussion victims awake for a couple hours?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Dix said. She smiled at them. “You two can go back to bed. Lock your doors. I’ll stand guard in the hallway until morning. No one else is getting hurt on my watch.”
Jared nodded. “I’d offer to take the next shift, but I don’t think you want me handling a gun. I’d probably shoot myself.”
She shook her head. “Thanks, but I can handle it. I have a nurse coming to check Mr. Stratford. If she thinks he needs to go to the hospital, we might be packing up and heading into Cape Churn.”
“Do you want us to stay and babysit Leigha?” Joe offered.
“No,” Dix said. “She’d come with us.”
“Let us know.” Jared shot a glance at his brother. “We might go with you.”
Dix’s lips twisted. “I wouldn’t blame you. Who wants to stay in a big house where the owner is attacked?”
“Exactly.” The two men spoke in unison and laughed.
Dix returned to the bedroom.
Leigha lay curled against her father’s side, her breathing slow and steady.
Andrew lay on his back.
Dix checked to see if his chest was moving up and down. When she couldn’t tell, she leaned over him and listened for his heartbeat.
A hand smoothed over her hair. “Don’t worry—I’m alive,” he said, his voice rumbling against her ear.
She straightened. “How do you feel?”
“Got a headache. I don’t suppose you’d get me a couple of pain relievers?” he asked, closing his eyes.
“I’d rather wait until the nurse gets here,” she said, brushing a strand of his pitch-black hair back from his forehead.
“Should we move to a hotel?” he asked.
“Not tonight.” She stood by the bed, smoothing Andrew’s hair back from his forehead. When the clock on the nightstand indicated it had been twenty-five minutes, she bent to whisper in Andrew’s ear, “I’m going to check on that nurse.”
He caught her hand. “I don’t need one. I need you.”
She smiled. “I’m not a nurse.”
“There’s a phone in my room. Call from there.”
Dix left his side and crossed through the connecting doors into Andrew’s room. She called Tazer.
“I was just about to call you. I hate to tell you, but Emma couldn’t make it out to you. The roads are socked in with the Devil’s Shroud. She tried, but she almost ran off the road a couple times before she left town. If she could have made it, she would have. It’s just not safe for anyone, including an ambulance, to drive out to you.”
“Anything I should do to monitor him?”
“She said he should get plenty of rest. If he is nauseous, has trouble with balance, is dizzy or incoherent, you might have to get an ambulance out there.”
Dix resolved to wake Andrew every two or three hours just to check to see if his condition was worsening. “Can I give him some pain relievers?”
“You can give him acetaminophen. Nothing else. You need to know if the pain is getting worse.”
“Okay.”
“I’d offer to come out and help, but I looked outside. Emma was right. It’s really bad out there. The worst I’ve seen it since I’ve been here.”
“I think we’ll be okay. I’m going to keep an eye on Stratford through the night. If anything changes, I’ll call.”
“Thanks for keeping me informed,” Tazer said. “I’ll see you in the morning as soon as the fog clears.”
Dix ended the call and returned to Leigha’s bedroom.
Andrew raised his hand.
Dix captured it in hers. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I was hit by a train.”
“I’ll bet you don’t feel better lying on your back. Do you need help turning onto your side?”
“No, but I could use a hand getting into my own bed.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
He stared up at her, his lips twisting. “I guess this means we’re not making love tonight.”
“Absolutely not. No contact sports for you until we know for sure you don’t have any bleeding on the brain.”
His grip tightened on her hand. “At the very least, why don’t you join us?” He started to scoot over.
His brow creased. “Then where are you sleeping?”
“I’m not.” She laid his hand on the bed. “I’m pulling guard duty until morning.”
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t stay awake all night.”
“I can if I’m on my feet, checking all the rooms.”
Andrew pushed the blanket back and started to get out of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.
“To a hotel. This place is too big for one person to guard all night. I won’t have the same guy who attacked me attacking you.”
“Andrew Stratford, get back in that bed before I put you there.” She spoke in a soft yet urgent tone, afraid she’d wake Leigha if she raised her voice.
He sat on the side of the bed, staring at her. “You can’t do it alone.”
“I’m a trained soldier and an MMA fighter. I can protect myself and you two. That’s why I’m here. Relax before you make your injury worse. I can’t make my rounds if I’m worrying about you.”
His frown deepened. “I’m getting rid of this place.”
“The hell you are. It’s part of your family heritage. You just need to find all the secret passages and seal them. We can work on that tomorrow.”
Leigha turned over and sighed.
“I need to leave you two so you can sleep.”
“Can’t you stay here with us? You can keep your gun on the nightstand.”
“What if someone goes after the Kessler twins?” she asked.
“Maybe one of them was the one who hit me.”
“No. They were in their rooms when I heard you yell. They couldn’t have hit you and run up the stairs without me seeing them.”
“So it’s not them. Then who was it?”
“That’s what we need to find out. We need to discover who would want to hurt you and why.”
“Do you think they’re after the same thing the Kessler boys are?”
“You’d think your grandfather would have found that treasure before he died. If it really exists and isn’t some big, whopping lie told to make Peg and Percy Malone more glamorous. I’m going to check the library tomorrow. And maybe Jared and Joe will show me what they’re basing their exploration on.”
