Armed 'N' Ready

by Tee O'Fallon

  “Who told you to kidnap the woman?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How did you get the order?”

  “By text. I got a photo and an address.”

  Photo? The one stolen from Myer’s house, he assumed.

  He tugged the evidence bag containing Matteo’s phone from his back pocket and pulled out the phone. He pushed the home button, and the screen lit up. “What’s your passcode?”

  Matteo pressed his lips together, then squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Now the kid was trying his patience. “Cooperation,” he reminded him. “Today.”

  The kid gave up his code, and Nick punched in the numbers. Figuring the order was recent, he tapped on the first text message. There was no sender name, only a phone number. A burner phone, most likely.

  The first part of the text was Andi’s home address. The second was another address in Holyoke, an area Nick knew had several abandoned buildings.

  Before he tapped on the photo, he could already tell it was the same one that had been stolen from Myer’s bedroom—the one with Andi in it.

  “Were you supposed to take the woman to this other address?”

  “Yeah.” Matteo nodded.

  “Then what?”

  “Tie her to a chair, then wait for a guy to show.”

  “What guy?”

  “I don’t fuckin’ know. We were just supposed to turn her over to whoever met us there. That’s it. Not my business what happened after that.”

  He gripped the phone tighter, resisting the urge to bash it against Matteo’s head. But time was ticking down fast. Sooner or later, it would go up the chain that they’d bungled the kidnapping. Nick was hoping for later.

  Gears began spinning in his head. There was still a chance that whoever was on the receiving end of the delivery that wasn’t going to happen was there now, waiting. They had a small window of opportunity before word got out, and that window was closing with every passing minute.

  He grabbed the pen and a pad he’d set on the table and shoved them in front of Matteo. “Write it. All of it. Including the name of your cowardly buddy who drove off and left you to take the hit.” He motioned to the other trooper to follow him out the door, leaving Matteo alone to pen his confession. Normally, he’d spend more time with an interrogation as important as this one. Time was not on his side.

  Eric and Cox came out of another interrogation room. “He talk?” Eric asked.

  “Yeah.” He charged into his tour commander’s office. Eric and Cox followed.

  Five minutes later, they were speeding down the highway toward Holyoke with four marked state police vehicles in tow. Eric sat in the passenger seat of Nick’s SUV.

  “You okay?” Eric asked.

  “Great.” Not even close.

  He’d called the number on Matteo’s phone, but no one answered. That phone had probably been tossed down a sewer grate by now. He gunned the SUV faster down the highway, but his gut told him they were already too late to grab their quarry. At least the bastards hadn’t gotten Andi.

  He admired that she hadn’t broken down and gone into hysterics. She might be soft and sleek on the outside, but there was a tough core at the center of that woman. Still, if he hadn’t been there tonight, or if he’d been too late…

  He clamped his fingers tighter around the wheel, his fury growing exponentially by the second. This time he had been there, but there’d been a time—five years ago—when he’d failed.

  Tanya had needed protection. Protection he clearly hadn’t been able to provide, something that would always tear into him. He should have been able to save her. He’d tried. God, how he’d tried. Maybe it was finally time to accept that. That and the fact he’d been alone long enough.

  Never in his wildest imaginings did he expect to care so deeply for a woman again, or even let one get close enough to try.

  He yanked the wheel to veer onto the exit ramp, barely slowing into the curve.

  There was no telling what would or wouldn’t happen next between him and Andi, but he was sure of one thing. What he’d said earlier about not letting anything happen to her had been a colossal understatement. If it came down to it…

  …he’d die protecting her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was ten p.m. Sunday night, and Andi wiped down the gleaming bar for the tenth time in the last hour.

  Nick was still out there searching for the people who’d tried to kidnap her. They were dangerous, and they were armed. She was thankful that Saxon was with him, but with every passing hour that he didn’t show, her emotions coiled tighter and tighter until he was all she could think about.

  Could she really open herself up and risk her heart again? In the depths of her soul, she knew the answer, and the thought was frightening.

  I already have.

  Ugly memories of Steve’s lie and the damage he’d done to her career and her emotions edged its way front and center in her mind. She’d been royally burned before and had good reason to have sworn off men for all eternity.

  Nick can’t have been playing me. Not then, and not now. She’d know if he was.

  She threw the damp cloth into the laundry bin then looked around the dining room. As soon as the dinner crowd had ended, she’d cut most of the staff loose, leaving only her and Tess to close up.

  Tess wiped down the last of the tables. Matt and Kade sat in a corner, sipping coffee as they had during the entire time they’d been guarding her. Occasionally, one of them had gotten a phone call, and she’d pumped them for information on Nick. They wouldn’t tell her a thing, and it was driving her crazy.

  The only good part of the day had come at the vet clinic, when the doctor had confirmed that Stray’s ribs weren’t broken. She’d checked on her several times throughout the day, and each time Stray was resting comfortably in her bed.

  “Ready to close?” Tess grabbed her purse from under the bar.

  “Just about.” She turned off the kitchen lights then tipped her head to Matt and Kade, who rose and waited for them by the front door.

  Tess dug into her sparkly, multicolored leather bag for her keys. Even her key ring glittered with an assortment of dangling crystal charms. “Where’s the Viking?”

  “Who?” She tugged the deck door closed, locking it.

  “The hunky guy with the spiky blond hair.” Tess waggled her eyebrows. “The one I saw talking to Nick last night.”

  “Oh, him. Eric.” She laughed, then pursed her lips. “Did I mention that he’s a cop—a federal agent?”

  The laughter in Tess’s eyes died instantly. “Too bad.”

  Hmm. One day—after the dust settled on her own chaotic life—she’d have to put aside her determination not to pry and dig deeper into what that was about.

  “Speaking of guys,” Andi continued, changing course, “didn’t you have a first date last night after work?”

  “I did.” She sighed. “My first and last with that jerk.”

  Andi flicked off the deck lights. “Where’d you meet this guy?”

  “Here, a couple of weeks ago.” She made a disgusted sound. “I should have known he’d be a jerk.”

  Andi raised her brows. “How could you have known?”

  Tess stared at the keys in her hand. “Because he reminded me of my stepfather.”

  Now, Andi was certain there was a story there. Tess rarely spoke of her family. “You know you can talk to me. About anything.”

  “I know. Thanks.” She gave Andi a wan, false smile and slung her bag over her shoulder. “My problems are nothing compared to yours. And likewise, I’m here for you, too.”

  Tess squeezed Andi’s arm, then sauntered to the front door and began chatting with Matt and Kade.

  “You coming?” Matt called out.

  “Yeah.” She nodded, then joined them at the door and waited for them to go outside so she could shut off the lights and set the alarm. Ironic how she’d alarmed the DPC but not her own home, yet it had been her house that was broken
into by thugs who meant to do her harm. In hindsight…dumb. Really dumb.

  With the alarm still beeping, she locked the door behind her. Kade walked Tess to her car while Matt stayed behind.

  “Did you hear anything new?” she asked hopefully.

  He shook his dark head. “The only thing I can tell you is that Nick and Eric interrogated the guys who tried to kidnap you. They’ve been following up on leads all day.” He watched her closely for a moment. “He’ll be okay. He’s good at what he does.”

  “I know.” They began walking to the house. “I didn’t mean he wasn’t, I’m just—” Going absolutely nuts not hearing from him.

  “Worried, I get it,” he said, filling in the blank. “My wife worries every time I walk out the door, but she accepts who I am and what I do. Even before we got married, it was hard on her. It took time for her to adjust and not let it get to her every second of the day.”

  “’Night, Andi,” Tess called from the open window of her beat-up Camry as she drove past.

  She waved back. “I don’t have any right to feel this way,” she mumbled, more to herself.

  “Why not?” Matt chuckled. “From what I’ve seen, he feels the same way.”

  “Who feels the same way?” Kade asked as he caught up to them.

  “Nick.”

  “Oh, that.” Kade also chuckled, then walked ahead of them to the house.

  “See?” Matt laughed again. “Everyone else does.”

  She glanced at him, unable to read his expression in the semi-darkness. “How can that be, when I’m still a suspect?”

  “The house is clear.” Kade leaned over the back porch railing. “Nick’s on his way. ETA in ten.”

  “It just is,” Matt responded matter-of-factly, and before she could ask what he meant by that, he added, “But that’s for Nick to explain. For now, let’s get you inside.”

  Twenty minutes later, she was pacing the living room. With every turn she made on the floor, Stray swung her head, watching her. Even with the patrol car outside, the two men remained alert, one at the front door, and one at the rear.

  A knock sounded at the rear door. Matt and Kade drew their guns from beneath their shirts. She’d assumed they were armed, but hadn’t detected their hidden weapons.

  Matt nudged the kitchen door curtain aside, then nodded to Kade. They holstered, and Matt opened the door.

  Saxon trotted in first and went straight for Stray’s bed. The two dogs’ noses touched. Saxon gave Stray a thorough sniffing, then lay down beside her, his muzzle touching the other dog’s front paw.

  When Nick walked in, Andi’s breath caught. Their gazes met and held, his weary from lack of sleep. Her eyes roved his body, reassuring herself that he wasn’t hurt. That was her greatest fear—that something would happen to him because of her.

  He still wore the same jeans and black T-shirt he’d worked in the day before. The only additions were the badge and gun holstered on his belt. His jaw was covered with light stubble, but to her, he’d never looked better. Or sexier. She went to him and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his chest.

  His arms came around her, and she sighed with relief, breathing him in and absorbing the heat from his body, letting it seep into her hers, melting away the tension. The worry-induced adrenaline that had kept her going all day vanished, and she was on the verge of falling asleep standing up.

  “They talked,” he began, gently easing her from his arms. “They were supposed to take you to Holyoke and hand you over to someone else.”

  Matt sat on the arm of the sofa. “Get a name?”

  He shook his head. “They don’t know who ordered the kidnapping or who they were going to meet. They were told to take her inside, tie her to a chair, then wait.”

  “You believe them?” Kade crossed his arms, the look on his face skeptical. “Generally, any time gang members’ lips are moving, they’re lying.”

  “I do believe them.” He nodded. “So does Eric. He grilled the other guy and eventually got pretty much the same information out of him. We hauled ass to the location, but nobody was there. The whole street is abandoned, and I’m sure that was part of the plan. The guy who got away—the van driver—probably got the word out about the bungled kidnapping. We found the van in a strip mall, but the driver’s in the wind. We’ll get him. Eventually.”

  He tugged her closer to his side, and when she wrapped her arm around his waist, his muscles bunched beneath her fingers.

  “No one on the street is talking,” he continued. “And that’s odd. There’s always someone willing to dime out a brother for the right price. Not on this, though. The streets are eerily quiet, as if something heavy is about to hit the fan and everyone’s scared shitless to talk about it.”

  Matt grunted, then massaged his chin. “The others have started their shifts at the Expo, but Kade and I don’t go on for another forty-eight hours. We can follow up on any leads you’ve got.”

  “Right now, we’ve got nothing to go on,” Nick said. “Eric went to the FBI lab to drop off the two cell phones we seized. They’ll do a dump on the phones and analyze everything. Phone numbers, social media, photos. And speaking of photos, one of the guys we arrested had one on his phone of Andi and Myer—the same one stolen during a break-in at Myer’s house two weeks ago. It was texted to him, so they’d know what she looked like.”

  She shuddered at how close she’d come to being tied to a chair, helpless. As if sensing her unease, Nick snugged her closer.

  “Want us to stick around?” Matt asked.

  “Nah, you guys can take off. The patrol car will stay out front all night. The restaurant’s closed on Mondays. We can touch base in the morning.”

  “You sure? We can stay downstairs,” Kade suggested.

  Nick shook his head. “I got this. Saxon will watch our backs.”

  Hearing his name, Saxon came to sit at Nick’s other side, leaning his head against Nick’s thigh. Seeing that kind of complete adoration reaffirmed Andi’s decision not to put Stray up for adoption. Somehow the dog had wiggled her way into her heart, and she couldn’t bear the thought of her belonging to someone else.

  “Call if you need us.” Matt clapped a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “’Night, Andi.”

  “Good night, Matt. Kade. And thank you.”

  “Our pleasure.” Kade followed Matt out the front door.

  No sooner had the door clicked shut than Nick’s mouth crashed down on hers. His arms were iron bands around her back, holding her tightly against him.

  She parted her lips, and he took full advantage until her head swam and her heart thudded crazily. When he finally pulled away, he was breathing hard. “Andi.” His voice was ragged, gravelly. Steel-gray eyes looked down at her, fierce with emotion. Hunger and heat radiated off him in waves.

  She half expected him to throw her over his shoulder and carry her upstairs like a conquering hero. But he didn’t. Not that she would have minded if he had, because she wanted him. God, how I want him.

  Gently, he trailed his fingers down her cheek, stroking across her lips, then along her jaw. Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back, giving him complete access to her neck.

  His lips were warm as he kissed the sensitive spot near her ear. The stubble on his jaw grazed her flesh, sending tingles to her belly. To keep from slipping boneless to the floor, she fisted his T-shirt in her hands. Her nerve endings crackled, sensing every inch of his body pressed against hers. She opened her eyes, and what she saw took her by surprise. Flooring her, actually. Because in addition to the volcanic heat she’d glimpsed, something else simmered in the depths of his gaze, something that speared a hole straight through her heart.

  Tenderness.

  This man…this gorgeous protector who could undoubtedly have every woman whose name graced the napkins he’d thrown into the garbage, wanted her.

  She didn’t know what he felt for her, but she wasn’t fool enough not to know her own feelings when they smacked her in the
face. Despite her initial reservations, she was falling for him, and couldn’t have prevented that fall if her life depended on it. It was that simple.

  His lips closed again on hers, urging them apart as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. He tugged her blouse from her skirt, skimming his hands along the sides of her rib cage then over her breasts.

  Her nipples instantly puckered, and the muscles in her lower belly clenched. I want this. I want him.

  It was a risk, perhaps the biggest of her life, but she was willing to take it. Wordlessly, she clasped his hand and led him to the base of the stairs.

  “Pass auf,” he said to Saxon, whose head tilted in obvious curiosity at what they were doing.

  In response, Saxon let out a guttural sound and sat straighter, as if coming to attention. She didn’t know German but understood Nick had just commanded Saxon to guard the house.

  As they climbed the stairs, her nerves ratcheted tighter. By the time they got to her bedroom, her heart was beating way too fast.

  Light from the upstairs hallway spilled onto the bed. She turned on a lamp and found Nick surveying the room.

  The bed was antique brass with a cream-colored cotton duvet, matching pillowcases, and a half dozen colorful fringed pillows in various sizes. A few equally colorful throw rugs dotted the wood floor. Since her bedroom windows faced the lake, she’d opted for no curtains, giving her an unobstructed view of the water.

  “Pillows.” A smile tugged at his lips. “I like it.”

  She swallowed, trying to slow her uneven breathing. He looked so out of place in her bedroom. Not that she’d decorated with frilly, girly things, but he was so big and masculine he was a stark contrast to the neutral serenity she’d been going for.

  Her hands shook. His presence in her bedroom pretty much blew any semblance of serenity out the window.

  “You’re nervous,” he said, brushing the backs of his knuckles down her cheek. “You shouldn’t be. I already know you’re beautiful. Inside and out.”

  He smiled, and something in her heart went into overdrive, skipping every other beat yet hammering harder.