by Rebecca Deel
The PSI instructor exited the vehicle and slowly circled the hood toward the passenger-side door, his gaze scanning the area as Matt and the St. Claires parked behind them. Linc stood beside the door while Trent escorted Grace to the house. Matt joined Linc.
“Why are we waiting now?” Dawn asked.
“For Trent to signal Linc that the house is safe.” Mason kissed the top of Nicole’s head. “Another couple of minutes and you can go to bed.”
“How do you know so much about security?” Dawn asked Mason.
“Rio and Trent. I’ve been on several missions with them to help with night watch.”
“Have you spent much time with Linc?”
Nicole smiled despite her churning stomach. Her friend was smitten with the PSI instructor. Nice.
“Not as much time as I’ve spent with Durango and Bravo, but we’re friends. He’s a good guy.” He sent her a pointed look. “He’s not dating anyone.”
She whipped around to stare at him. “I didn’t ask that.”
“You wanted to,” Nicole said.
“Maybe,” she muttered.
Trent reappeared in the doorway of his home and signaled Linc and Matt. They opened the passenger-side doors of the SUV. “Let’s go, Dawn.” Linc assisted her from the vehicle and hurried her toward the St. Claire home.
Matt waited until the two were inside the house before saying, “Your turn, Nicole. Mase, get out on the other side and come around. Go to Nicole’s left side. I’ll take the right.”
Mason joined Matt and held out his hand to Nicole. He gathered her against his side and hustled her toward the front door.
They arrived without incident, but Nicole felt as though someone watched them take every step. Ridiculous. How would the killer know she’d go to Trent’s?
She shivered. Anyone who knew her would suspect the likelihood of her staying with her sister was high. After all, she’d been injured, and Grace was a nurse.
Only a fool would take on Trent St. Claire, though. Her brother-in-law was a skilled black ops soldier and a Navy SEAL. No one sane ticked off Trent.
Her gaze slid to Mason. Her husband-to-be was no slouch in the security department, either. He might not be an operative or allowed to carry a weapon, but he knew how to handle himself and protect her. She trusted him with her life as well as her heart.
Matt secured the door. He turned an assessing gaze on Nicole, then glanced at Grace. “Do you have a soft drink with ginger or chamomile tea?”
Nicole frowned. Did she have a sign on her forehead warning others she was sick to her stomach?
“Both. I know not to incur your wrath.”
He snorted. “Brat.”
Grace grinned as she headed for the kitchen.
“Your room is ready, Nic,” Trent said. “Dawn has the guest room.”
Dawn frowned. “What about Linc and Mason? Where will they sleep?”
“On the couch in shifts,” Linc said. “The person on night watch will alternate between the living room window and the back door in the kitchen.” He slid a glance toward Mason. “Although I suspect Mase won’t be sleeping at all.”
“Why not?” Nicole asked. Mason had to go to work early in the morning.
“He’ll sit by your bedside and watch over you when he’s not on night watch.”
“No.” She frowned at Mason. “You have to be at work early.”
“So do you. I’ll be fine. One night short on sleep won’t hurt me.”
Although she didn’t like his reasoning, Nicole understood. If their roles had been reversed, she would have watched over him all night, too.
Grace returned with a soft drink. “Drink part of this and go to sleep if you can, Nic. I’ll check on you in two hours.”
“I have to be at work by 6:30 a.m.”
“We both do.” Dawn smothered a yawn. “I hope one of you doesn’t mind dropping us off because our vehicles are parked in front of Riva’s house.”
Trent and Linc exchanged glances with Mason. “I’ll be your chauffeur,” Linc said.
Nicole frowned. Something was up. The men were hiding something. “What’s wrong, Trent?”
“At the moment, nothing. We’ll see what Rod and Ethan come up with overnight before we talk about further security measures.”
“Trent…”
“Give it up, Nic.” Grace nudged Nicole toward her room. “Mason is no less protective than Trent or Linc. Get some rest because I’ll be checking you periodically throughout the night.”
She leaned into Mason’s side, barely managing to put one foot in front of another. “One of these days, I’ll return the favor and keep you up all night.”
Her sister laughed. “Deal.”
Inside her temporary bedroom, Mason turned the lamp to the low setting. “Do you need help getting ready for bed? I’m sure Dawn or Grace will be glad to give you a hand.”
“I need something to sleep in. I keep toiletries here for the nights I stay over when Trent is gone on a mission.”
“I’ll let Grace know. Call for me if you need me.”
“Mason, I’ll be fine if you want to sleep for a few hours.”
The muscles in his jaw firmed. “I won’t be able to sleep anyway if I’m not sure you’re safe. Let me protect you.”
Tears stung her eyes. “You’ll always be my refuge in the storm.”
He brushed his lips over hers in a gentle caress. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. If you become dizzy, call out.”
“I promise. Go.”
Nicole held herself erect by sheer force of will until Mason walked down the hall. She braced her hand against the wall as she walked to the attached bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. By the time she finished her before-bed routine, she felt limp as a dishrag. Great way to convince the man she loved that she was healing.
A light tap sounded on the bedroom door and her sister walked inside with a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. “Figured you’d be more comfortable with clothes you could run in if necessary.”
“Better not be necessary.” She waved aside Grace’s concern. “I’m just tired. I guess the extra-long day and the encounter with Wrench Man is catching up with me.”
“Understandable. Need help changing clothes?”
“Nope. I’ve got it. Where’s Mason?”
“Working out night watch shifts with Trent and Linc. Dawn is in her room with a mug of tea.” Grace’s eyes twinkled. “Is she sweet on Linc?”
“She hasn’t said, but I have my suspicions. She blushes when he’s mentioned in conversation. It’s cute.”
“Reminds me of you when you first met Mason.”
“And now I’m going to marry that man in two months, six days, and,” a quick glance at her watch, “twelve hours.”
Grace grinned. “Not that you’re counting or anything. I’ll leave you to change. Open the door when you’re ready for Mason to return. He’s worried about you.”
“For a couple seconds before I passed out at Riva’s, I was afraid I wouldn’t live to walk down the aisle. Believe me, I don’t mind one bit that he wants to be close to me. The feeling is mutual.”
Her sister’s smile faded. “He won’t let anything happen to you. Neither will Trent and Linc. You’re in good hands.” Grace handed Nicole the clothes and closed the door on her way out of the room.
Nearing the end of her strength, Nicole hurried to change clothes and open the door. She left the lamp on dim, climbed on the bed, and tugged the quilt over her legs.
When Mason returned to the room, he left the door to the hall open and moved a chair to her bedside.
“The bed’s large. You could stretch out beside me.”
A slow smile curved his lips. “No, baby, I couldn’t. In two months and six days, I’ll take you up on your offer.” He sat, turned off the lamp, and threaded his fingers through Nicole’s. “Sleep. I’ll be right here.”
Between one heartbeat and the next, Nicole dropped into the oblivion of sleep.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dawn threw off the covers and sat up, frustrated by her inability to slow her mind enough to sleep. If nothing changed, she wouldn’t be much help to Nicole in the morning. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that masked man barreling toward her.
More tea, she decided. That was her only option unless she could find a book with a plot that moved at a snail’s pace. Maybe a slow movie if she wouldn’t disturb whoever was on night watch at the moment. Would it be Trent, Mason, or Linc?
What did it matter? The point was safety. Besides, Lincoln Creed was the bachelor of choice for every woman in town. How could she hope to compete with all of them? She couldn’t let herself take his care and concern over the past few hours to heart no matter how much she was tempted.
Dawn slid her feet back into her running shoes, mentally thanking Grace for her foresight in providing workout gear to sleep in. She walked into the hall and glanced toward Nicole’s room. No light. Hopefully, her friend was asleep. She suspected Mason was somewhere close.
Maybe one day, she’d be lucky enough to have a man as devoted to her as Mason was to Nicole.
She walked toward the living room and pulled up short when Linc turned from the window to look at her, concern growing in his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked, voice soft.
Why did he have to be the one on duty now? Dawn couldn’t deny that familiar tug of attraction. So much for lulling herself to sleep on the couch. Wouldn’t be happening with this man so close. “I can’t sleep. I planned to make tea and hunt for a nice, slow book to read. Any chance Trent has an ancient history book I can borrow for the night?” That ought to be dry enough to bore her to sleep.
“Are you in pain or is your brain replaying the events at Riva’s?”
Smart man. “Second option.”
“The instant replay is your brain’s way of coping with trauma. Your subconscious is searching for different options that were available to change the outcome. There aren’t any.”
His simple statement eased her discomfort enough for her to take her first deep breath since this nightmare began. How did Linc know just what to say?
He moved away from the window. “Come on. I’ll walk with you to the kitchen. I need to check the back of the house anyway and refill my coffee mug.”
“Since you’re awake at this time of night, you must have drawn the short straw.”
Linc glanced at her, eyebrow raised. “Short straw?”
“The first watch.”
“I volunteered.”
“Why?” She wouldn’t have wanted to stay up half the night, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Riva’s killer must be long gone by now. A shiver raced down her body. The killer had to be a transient. Otter Creek was a safe town, one full of highly skilled men and women trained to protect. Linc was a prime example.
He lifted the carafe from the coffeemaker and poured more of the steaming liquid into his mug. “Giving up a few hours of sleep is nothing I haven’t done many times over the years. I have a hard time sleeping some nights. More important, I wanted to know that you were safe. The only way I’ll be sure of that is to watch over you myself.”
She stared. “Mason and Trent are in the house. My safety isn’t solely your responsibility.” Is that all he felt for her? A sense of responsibility? A wave of disappointment washed over her.
Linc glanced over his shoulder. “Trent’s priority is Grace. Mason is focused on Nicole. My priority is you. Believe me, it’s not a hardship on my part. I would gladly do that and more to keep you safe.”
Her heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t mean that the way it sounded. Could he?
The instructor drank a few sips of his coffee and set the mug on the counter. “I’m going outside to make sure everything is still secure. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Make your tea and go curl up on the couch. You can keep me company while I’m on watch.”
She smiled, the ball of ice in her stomach melting at not having to face the four walls of her bedroom for a while longer and perhaps getting to know the PSI instructor better. “All right. Thanks, Linc.”
After a nod, he left the house by the kitchen door and disappeared into the darkness.
Dawn rummaged through Grace’s tea collection. She selected one, dumped the tea bag in a mug filled with water, and nuked it. After refreshing the coffee in Linc’s mug, she carried her mug and his into the living room, and curled up at one end of the couch with her tea in hand. When she finished her drink, Dawn draped an afghan over her legs and settled back to wait for Linc.
When Linc returned, she handed his coffee and asked, “Everything okay?”
“Exactly as it was thirty minutes ago. I also spoke to Josh for a minute. Bonnie is home with her boyfriend, Clyde. No mishaps or problems. According to Josh, she polished off Mrs. Waterman’s bush and two family-size bags of potato chips on her adventure tonight. Daybreak will reveal other camel snacks because I’m sure Bonnie ate more than one bush. That girl has quite an appetite.”
She grinned. “You’re familiar with her?”
“Hard not to be. I run frequently at night, and that’s Bonnie’s favorite time to wander around the area.” He grimaced. “She’s also made off with several strands of my hair when I didn’t move fast enough to evade her attention.”
“You can’t sleep at night?”
“That’s part of it. The other part is running five miles or more a day is more comfortable at night because of the lower temperature. More peaceful, too. Less traffic.” He stationed himself by the front window again and sipped his coffee.
“Is running that much required for your job?”
A soft chuckle. “It doesn’t pay for trainees to be in better shape than instructors. To train them, we need to be better than they are. They respect strength and skill. If I let myself be a couch potato, I won’t have as much impact. My job is to impart as much knowledge and training as possible to keep them alive on the job. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.”
“What did you do before you came to PSI?”
Linc paused, then murmured, “Military.”
She noted his utter stillness. Sore spot? “How long were you in?”
“Seventeen years. I left for boot camp the day after my high school graduation.”
“What branch?”
“Army.” He was silent a moment, then asked, “Does it bother you?”
Dawn blinked, surprised at his question. “Of course not. I was an Army brat. My father served for 30 years.”
“Are you going to ask what my job was?”
“If you’re teaching bodyguards how to handle weapons at PSI, you weren’t in charge of supplies like Dad.”
The stiff lines of his body relaxed. “No, I wasn’t. Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Not asking me details.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday. It’s obvious you don’t want to talk about your military service and aren’t allowed to talk about your work. I don’t know anything for sure, but people around town talk and speculate about what really goes on behind closed doors at PSI. Many of the operatives in charge of PSI are something other than run-of-the-mill soldiers. You fit right in with them.”
Linc snorted. “Gossiping is a favorite town pastime.”
He didn’t deny her assessment of him and his military service. Good enough confirmation for her to know that the PSI weapons master had been in Special Forces. The quiet man had hidden depths. “I’ll listen with an open mind if you ever want to tell me about your work or service. Otherwise, I won’t push.”
“I believe you mean that.”
Dawn lifted one shoulder. “I mean what I say. I don’t know what you went through during your stint in the military, but I appreciate your service and sacrifice, Linc.”
“Think you can fall asleep now?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?”
Linc half-turned to face her, consternation on his face. “No, of course not.”
She grinned
. “Gotcha.”
“You have a wicked sense of humor, Ms. Metcalf. I like it.”
Did that mean he liked her? “Will it bother you if I stay?”
Although he shook his head, his attention stayed focused on something outside the window.
What did he see? “Linc?”
“Go into the kitchen. Leave the lights off.”
Oh, man. Dawn whipped the afghan away from her legs and rushed toward the back of the house. She only made it a few feet before Linc shouted something and slammed into her, taking Dawn to the floor, covering her body with his. Before she drew in a breath, the living room window exploded.
Linc’s arms tightened around her while the chaos continued unabated. After what seemed like a lifetime, the noise finally stopped.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“Sit rep,” Trent snapped from the hallway.
Linc jumped up, pulling a weapon from his holster. “One shooter in a black pickup. Watch over Dawn.” His jaw hardened. “I’m going hunting.”
“Go.”
He raced out the kitchen door and into the darkness.
“Are you hurt?” Trent crouched beside Dawn and helped her sit up.
“I don’t think so.” She glanced down at herself and, not seeing any obvious injuries, counted her blessings. “What about you and everyone else?”
“We’re fine.” His cell phone rang. Trent stabbed the speaker button. “St. Claire.”
“Security monitoring called me. Sit rep,” a deep voice demanded.
“You’re on speaker, boss.”
“Understood. What do you need?”
Mason, Nicole, and Grace entered the kitchen.
“Have the tech geeks analyze the security footage and ask Zane to hack the traffic cams in my neighborhood. Someone driving a black pickup shot up my house.”
“Security breach on our end?”
“Can’t be ruled out but I doubt it.” He summarized the events at Riva’s home. “Mason, Nicole, and her friend Dawn Metcalf are here along with Linc Creed.”
“How many black pickups are in Otter Creek?” The tone was dry.
