Dangerous Attraction

by Sidney Bristol

  She was better off without him.

  The voice didn’t call him a liar this time, because it was the undeniable truth. He might have feelings for her, hell, he very well might love her, but that was a curse.

  “I’ll be out of here in less than an hour.”

  The microwave dinged. He grabbed the still-hot breakfast burrito and headed for the stairs.

  More like he fled.

  This was the right thing to do.

  Wasn’t it?

  BLISS STOOD IN THE smaller bedroom over the garage, listening for sounds of the car.

  Travis was leaving.

  He was serious.

  She still couldn’t wrap her head around it all. Last night they’d almost said they loved each other. You didn’t offer to marry someone you didn’t love, right? And today they were over. Done with.

  The hole in her chest was so new and raw she didn’t really feel it yet. She was just...numb.

  Travis’ rental backed out of the garage. She stepped to the side, out of his line of sight. It was one thing to wait around, mooning and depressed, it was another for him to know how much this hurt.

  What had she done wrong? What was wrong with her?

  She wiped her hand across her cheek. The tears she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry streamed down her cheeks. She pressed her back to the wall and slid to the carpet.

  Seven days. Was it really possible to fall in love with someone that fast?

  Her broken heart said yes.

  She hadn’t harbored any kind of illusions. Yes, she knew that things wouldn’t be easy with Travis, she’d have to be okay with less in exchange for being loved by him, but they could make it work.

  God, she needed to pull it together. Jade and Connor would be here soon to—she didn’t really know. Move her? Question her?

  They weren’t Travis.

  She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her hands.

  Life just wasn’t fair.

  DANIEL STARTED THE dead cop’s car and eased out a full thirty seconds after Travis turned out of the residential area. He hadn’t been able to tell how many people were inside the house, but there was only one in the truck.

  He’d take his chances.

  Travis had to die before he executed the rest of his plan anyway.

  “KEYS, SIR?”

  Travis stared at the rental keys.

  What was he doing? Was this really the right choice?

  He was going to spend the next five days drinking himself stupid. At home. Alone.

  His pocket vibrated.

  Bliss.

  “Excuse me?” He yanked the phone out of his pocket.

  “Sure thing.” The attendant turned away, busying himself with paperwork behind the counter.

  Not Bliss. Ethan.

  “Hey, man,” Travis said.

  “What the fuck are you doing up this early?” Ethan’s voice was raspy, low and slightly slurred. Drugs or alcohol? Maybe both?

  “On my way to see you.”

  “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “I don’t know. You’re my friend?”

  “Unless you’re bringing Bliss, I don’t want to see your sorry ass.”

  Travis blew out a breath.

  “What do you want, Ethan?”

  “I want to know why you’re making a huge, fucking mistake.”

  “Ethan, Bliss isn’t Molly.”

  “Good. Because I’d beat your ass if you thought she was a good idea. The shit I’ve put up with. Wait—have you slept with my wife? Ex-wife?”

  “What? No. Did someone say she did?”

  “Oh fuck, don’t tell me you don’t know.”

  “No, man, I don’t.”

  “Yeah, she’s cheated on me. Yeah, I’ve caught her three fucking times. Believe me, stick with Bliss.”

  Travis stared at the wall.

  Molly? Cheating on Ethan? But they’d seemed so perfect.

  “Listen, you like her. Don’t leave. Don’t come back. Stay there and get a ring on it. Girls like that don’t come along every day. Hear me?”

  “Yeah.”

  If Ethan and Molly couldn’t make it, what chance did they have?

  “And I can hear you thinking. You aren’t me, and Bliss ain’t Molly. She told me she was unhappy years ago, but I asked her to stay. I ruined us and I know it.”

  “Are you drinking, Ethan?”

  “Fuck yeah I am.”

  Shit. There was no telling what alcohol and the pills would do. Travis was going to have to make a few calls.

  “You’ll never stop wondering what if if you come home now,” Ethan said.

  Travis balled his hand into a fist. Damn Ethan for speaking his thoughts.

  Travis knew the odds were against them, but what if he was wrong? Wasn’t it time for something to go right in his life?

  “I’ll talk to you later, man. Put the bottle down.” Travis hung up and fired off a quick text to Gavin. Someone needed to keep an eye on Ethan. He jangled the keys at the attendant. “I’m going to need to keep these a bit longer.”

  “Okay.”

  Travis jogged out of the rental car shop and climbed back into his SUV.

  The feds weren’t supposed to get to the house until noon. He had an hour and a half to beat them there and make things right.

  It was crazy and he was probably stupid, but what else was there for him these days? Didn’t he deserve to at least try to be happy?

  And Bliss made him happy. He’d been serious about getting hitched. Yeah, they didn’t know each other all that well, but when something was right it was right.

  He loved Bliss.

  And he was going to tell her.

  DANIEL PULLED INTO the small parking lot outside a florist’s shop.

  Flowers.

  How typical.

  His wives never needed such things. They were damn well happy with what he gave them.

  The location was pretty perfect. Stores bordered the lot on three sides and a dumpster sat between him and the road. He had a straight line of sight to the SUV, now all he needed was for Travis to emerge.

  He pulled out the cop’s gun and checked the chamber.

  Good to go.

  Daniel kept his gaze on the rearview mirror. He’d need to get out fast and pick up a new ride. Things would have to happen fast once Travis was dead, or the feds would move his wife.

  Oh, how he couldn’t wait for Wendy to be back in his arms.

  Travis strode around the corner of the building, a bouquet of roses in his hands.

  Now.

  Daniel pushed the door open, lifted the gun and fired—straight at Travis.

  So long, asshole.

  Dangerous

  Attraction:

  Part Three

  1.

  Travis hit the ground, rolling and grabbing for the firearm in his boot holster. Every fiber of his body was hyper aware of his surroundings. His left arm burned, and he couldn’t feel his fingers. There wasn’t time to worry about the injury now, not with someone firing a gun at him. Adrenaline fueled his need to survive. Bliss. He had to get back to her. Had to protect her. She wasn’t safe.

  He rose to his knees, gun raised and pointed toward the front of the SUV where he’d glimpsed the shooter.

  Daniel.

  It had to be him. Travis had caught a glimpse of a familiar car. The nagging sense that something was wrong had just started low in his gut, and then he saw the blast of muzzle fire. From there he operated on instinct, dropping to the ground, narrowly avoiding the shot.

  How had Daniel found him so fast? Why was he after Travis? What had changed to make him deviate from the plan? Daniel went after the girls and transient junkies.

  Pinpricks of pain started in the fingers on his left hand. The good news was he could flex and move the limb, though the ache radiating down from his shoulder meant he was going to be in a world of pain after the adrenaline dump wore off.

  An inhuman roar bounced and echo
ed off the brick walls boxing them in. There was nowhere for Travis to go but through Daniel. This was it. The end. He could finish this right now. Make it so that Bliss never had to worry about the killer ever again.

  He crawled to the front of the truck. On a whim, he’d backed into the spot, which meant a faster exit, and a measure of protection for a shoot-out.

  The footsteps came closer. Heavy boots thudding on the new asphalt.

  Travis crouched behind the rental SUV, the front wheels to his back.

  One...

  Two...

  Three.

  He straightened, sighted his shot, and fired off two rounds. Daniel ducked, and the back window of a car shattered. He was maybe six feet away, out in the open lot. It should be like shooting fish in a barrel, but tremors shook Travis’ arm.

  Daniel returned fire, hitting the front of the SUV and the van behind him. Travis ducked behind his truck, his right leg almost buckling. A big piece of glass stuck out from his calf. He didn’t remember getting cut, but adrenaline did funny things in the heat of battle.

  Two more shots pinged off the truck.

  Travis circled his truck until he had the brick wall behind him, and the SUV between him and Daniel. He took a breath and then stepped out in the open, aiming at where he expected Daniel to be.

  He was gone.

  Travis was alone.

  Travis limped around the SUV, gun up, sweeping the lot in case Daniel was hiding. People across the street were yelling, a car alarm was going off, but no Daniel. He’d disappeared.

  The florist shop window sported several new cracks. The owner peeked out from around the corner. Travis dug his laminated badge out from his back pocket and flashed it. The badge didn’t have any legal weight besides identifying who he worked for, but sometimes it got civilians moving.

  “Call the cops. Tell them Daniel Campbell was here. Do it. Now. Get inside.”

  Daniel had meant to kill him. For some reason, he was going after Travis, not Bliss or Wendy. It was a complete and total break from pattern. Daniel was going to be even more desperate now. People needed off the streets, out of his path, or the bodies were going to start piling up even more.

  How close was the safe house?

  He’d chosen a shop not too far away, but not too close either. The house was maybe a five minute drive.

  Daniel could already be there if he had a backup vehicle in the area.

  Travis turned and limped back to the truck, pushing the pain out of his mind and focusing on what mattered: Bliss’ safety. Had he just put her at risk?

  He should have never left her side that morning.

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

  He’d vowed to protect Bliss, and now he might have just killed her.

  Travis turned the key in the ignition, saying a silent prayer. Who knew what was torn up in there after the bullets hit it? The engine roared to life. He blew out a breath and threw the truck into reverse, glad he didn’t have to track down a new set of wheels. With a piece of glass jutting out of his leg and a questionable arm wound, he wasn’t in any shape to hoof it back to Bliss on foot, either.

  “Call Ryan Brooks,” he yelled at the Bluetooth.

  “Calling Ryan Brooks.”

  He pulled out onto the street, cutting two cars off and tailgating a third until they turned out of his way. Steam trickled out from around the hood and the temperature gauge crept higher. Getting pulled over by a cop might actually be a good thing if he could catch a ride to the safe house.

  “Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”

  “Hello, this is SSA Ryan Brooks, if you will please leave a detailed message—”

  “Fuck.”

  He jabbed the End Call button on the steering wheel and slammed on the gas. The engine’s muddy roar wasn’t a good sign. The truck was limping along when he needed a sprint.

  It could already be too late. He’d walked into Daniel’s hands, and now he could be after Bliss.

  BLISS SAT ON THE sofa, mindlessly staring at the TV. She was numb to it all. Her life was done with, at least as she’d known it. And Travis was gone. The cops had already told her that the paperwork for Witness Protection was being pushed through despite the holidays, and that meant that in twenty-four hours Bliss Giles would cease to exist. She’d become someone else. A stranger. None of it mattered anymore.

  Was this how it felt like for Wendy? Was this depression? She’d always fought her way through the tough times, determined to make things better but now... It wasn’t worth it. Travis had made that clear.

  A man had never meant so much to her before. She’d never allowed them to, if she were honest with herself. Nice guys fit into a box in her life, one where she still had time and attention to pick up the slack for Wendy. But a guy like Travis? He would demand everything she had. He readjusted her priorities, shown her what she could have with a man who deserved to be the love of her life. But clearly she wasn’t important enough to him.

  This sucked.

  She flipped the channel again and couldn’t muster the energy to care when the news popped on with a special update in the Daniel Campbell case.

  He was her personal nightmare. Her kidnapper and tormenter. The man who wanted her to have babies he could torture to death. She couldn’t even wrap her mind around it, and quite frankly didn’t want to try. Soon, there wouldn’t be a Bliss for Daniel to kidnap. She’d have a new identity, hopefully one he couldn’t track.

  The back door creaked.

  An electric-like current of adrenaline raced down her spine. She sucked in a deep breath.

  She could barely hear the light steps of the intruder on the linoleum. Her whole body was frozen to the sofa, tracking a single person’s steps into the kitchen. In her head, she could hear the echo of Daniel’s steps on the metal floor inside the RV. They’d been so loud and heavy, and she’d been sure she was about to die.

  Fuck this gloomy shit, she wanted to live.

  She wrapped her hand around the Taser tucked between the cushions at her side. It wasn’t much in the way of protection, but she would go down fighting this time.

  “Bliss?” A young man wearing sweatpants and a hoodie stepped out of the kitchen, a police badge in hand.

  She sagged against the cushions in relief.

  Not Daniel.

  A cop.

  All the tension left her body and she slumped against the cushions. Would it kill him to knock?

  “Who are you?” she asked. There was no way she could keep them all straight, but she tried. These were the men and women she owed her life to, now.

  “I’m Marcus. I live on the other side of the fence.”

  “Oh. Right.” She blew out a breath. Travis had told her about the officer stationed behind the safe house tasked with keeping an eye on them. He and two officers positioned in cars at either end of the street were the entirety of her protective detail now that Travis was gone. Without him there, it didn’t feel like enough.

  “I’m going to have to ask you to get your things together.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” His expression was too tight, his smile fake. Her stomach clenched. “What happened to Travis?”

  “Ma’am, I don’t know. Last I heard he was getting on a plane. Will you please get your things together? We need to move you. Now.”

  She could demand answers, or she could grab her bag and get the same answers on the way to wherever they were taking her.

  Bliss opted for taking the stairs two at a time up to the room she’d shared with Travis. She could still smell him in the sheets and her clothes. Even a shower hadn’t washed him off her. He branded her body and soul as his, then left.

  Now wasn’t the time for sad, mopey thoughts. She’d been captured by Daniel once and that was an experience she didn’t want to repeat. She grabbed her blue duffle bag off the dresser, tossed on a jacket, and was back downstairs in less than five minutes.

  “Ready,” she said. “Will you tell me what’s going on now?”

  “In t
he car.”

  Marcus took her arm and guided her out through the back door, moving at a brisk pace. She almost had to jog to keep up with him. The gate that joined their backyards stood open, and a uniformed officer waited for them on the other side. She didn’t miss the way his hand sat on his service gun. Something was wrong.

  “Is my sister okay? What about my parents?”

  The officer took her bag and the two men led her to a patrol car parked in front of Marcus’ house. Neither one spoke until she was locked in the backseat.

  “Package has been picked up,” Marcus radioed while the driver gassed it out of the driveway.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  She was used to Travis, who gave her answers. Travis, who didn’t hide the truth from her. These officers were seriously scaring her.

  “Ma’am, did anyone come to the door? Anyone at all?” Marcus twisted to look at her through the wire barrier.

  “No, no one. Will someone please tell me what’s happened?”

  “One of the plainclothes officers is missing. His car is gone.” Marcus’ tone was grim.

  “You think—you think Daniel did something?” Cold dread swept her. Bad things weren’t accidents.

  “We don’t know anything yet.”

  “Your friend, he couldn’t have gone out for coffee or anything?”

  “No, he wouldn’t have.”

  “Oh, God.” She covered her mouth and closed her eyes. What kind of hell was this? What had she done to deserve this?

  “Shit, look out!” Marcus threw his arm up, and the driver slammed on his brakes.

  A big black SUV barreled down the road at them, smoke trailing out from under the hood, screeching to a stop so hard it rocked from side to side. The body was dented, and it looked like someone had taken a huge pencil and jabbed holes in the metal.

  Bullet holes.

  A familiar figure leapt out of the driver’s side, heading straight for them.

  Travis.

  Her heart pounded twice as hard. He was supposed to be on an airplane. He left her. And yet, he was looking right at her. She slapped her hand against the window and pulled at the door—but there was no handle, not in the back of the cop car.

  “What the hell?” Marcus got out and stalked toward Travis.