* * * *
Justin had driven by the hospital several times over the past day and a half and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He knew Kerri would head for the nearest hospital due to blood loss. This was the only hospital in the area, so this was definitely where she would be. He knew this place would be crawling with security if Daniel MacGregor was already here. The man would stop at nothing to keep his daughter from being taken again. Justin had to get to her before her father did because he had no doubt that she would be placed under more security than the president once Daniel arrived.
Finding a parking space as close to the building and exit as possible, Justin grabbed a clipboard, a vase of roses, and a balloon bouquet and walked to the entrance. Walking over to the desk, he watched as the nurse’s eyes widened at the flowers and balloons she saw him carrying. Making a show of looking down at his clipboard and pretending to read a name, Justin smiled at the nurse.
“Hello, gorgeous. I have a delivery here for a Miss Kerri MacGregor. Can you tell me what room she is in?”
The nurse giggled and blushed at the “gorgeous” comment, and Justin mentally patted himself on the back. Flirting seemed to be the way to go to get what he wanted out of this woman.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can only give that information out to the family. I can take the flowers and deliver them myself if you would like.”
Reaching over, Justin stroked the back of the nurse’s hand with his finger and read her name tag. “Normally, Rhonda, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but this is a special delivery, and I have to have a signature or my boss is going to kill me. You probably know all about that, don’t you?” He gave her his brightest smile, keeping the scarred side of his face turned away from her while still running his fingertips over the back of her hand.
After another giggle, Nurse Rhonda pressed a few buttons on her keyboard. “I’m sorry, sir, it looks like you just missed her. She checked out about three hours ago.”
Damn. Now what? “Thank you for your help, honey. Maybe you can give the balloons to some other patients, but I insist you keep the roses for yourself.”
After kissing the back of the nurse’s hand, Justin quickly left the building. Hopefully by giving the roses to the nurse, she wouldn’t rat him out if someone came questioning who he was.
Either Kerri’s injuries weren’t as bad as he thought, or she had already been moved into hiding. Either way, Justin was going to have his work cut out for him to find her again. The first step was figuring out who Daniel trusted to keep his daughter safe. He needed Kerri because without her his plan would fall apart. She was the key to bringing Daniel MacGregor down. Nothing was going to stop Justin from getting his revenge.
* * * *
When Chase arrived home, he found his entire family waiting for him on the front porch with concerned looks on their faces. He knew he had some explaining to do, but his first priority was to get Kerri somewhere comfortable. He carried Kerri in the house and straight to the room that had a connecting door to his bedroom. His room used to be his parents’, and the connecting room was once a nursery but was converted into an office for his dad when all the kids got old enough for their own rooms. Chase was impressed with what he saw. In just a few hours, Cane and Ali had completely transformed the office into a bedroom every woman would love to have. The focal point was a queen-size bed in the center of the room with what looked like a hundred pillows piled on it. Chase shoved the pillows off with one arm while he cradled Kerri to his chest with the other. Once he had the bed clear, he gently laid her on it and positioned her so that she was comfortable. He tucked a pillow under her injured leg to elevate it and keep the swelling down. Brushing the hair out of her face and giving her one last look, Chase pulled the door closed and walked out of the room.
When Chase arrived in the kitchen, he found his family all sitting around the kitchen table, drinking coffee and talking. Gavin and Angel were both leaning against the counter with intense looks on their faces. Turning in the directions of their stares, he saw that they were watching Ali. His sister was sitting at the table staring back at the two men with a look of awe on her face. Great, one more thing for me to worry about. Chase recognized the look on Ali’s face, and if he wasn’t mistaken, it was the same look he’d had on his face when he walked into the hospital room and laid eyes on Kerri. The difference between him and his baby sister was that he was old enough to have that look on his face. Yeah, Ali would be eighteen in another few months, but she was still his baby sister, and this was a situation that he was going to have to monitor.
Chase cleared his throat and turned the focus of the room toward him. “I know you all are wondering what is going on. The woman lying in the room back there is our former commanding officer’s daughter.” Chase waved his hand between him, Gavin, and Angel.
“She was abducted a few days ago by a man whose intention was to use her against her father. We don’t know who the guy is or what his grudge against our CO is, but he disappeared after Kerri got away. Her father is out hunting for the man now. So my job is to keep Kerri safe until her kidnapper is captured.”
He pointed to his team members. “This Gavin and Angel. I called them in for extra protection. I’m not expecting any trouble here, but I’m not taking any chances. I trust them with my life and yours, so if you have any problems and I am not around, you can go to either one of them.” Gavin and Angel nodded but stayed quiet.
“You guys can go on with your lives as usual. Just keep your eyes and ears open for anything strange in town.”
Once Chase was finished with his explanation, he walked over and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. Opening the cap, he swallowed half the bottle in one gulp. Damn, I needed that. He turned back around to see Cane and Ali gone, probably to check on Keri and make sure she was comfortable. His brothers were still sitting at the table, watching him.
Duncan spoke first. “Okay, now that they’re gone, what is the real threat?”
Chase sighed. He should have known his brothers would see through his everything is okay, don’t worry attitude. “The only thing I can tell you is that my gut tells me that this is not over. This guy is smart. He has to be to have gotten to Kerri in the first place. He isn’t going to give up on using her against her father. That’s the reason why I called Gavin and Angel in.”
“So what should we do?” Riley asked.
“Gavin and Angel will be staying here and helping out. Riley, I need you to be on bodyguard detail again if you can. I want you with Ali until this is over.” Riley nodded. Chase loved his family. There was no whining, and no moaning or complaining. They just got things done.
“Duncan and Logan, I would prefer it if you kept Cane here. With her being pregnant, I don’t want anything unnecessary to happen to her.”
Duncan and Logan looked at each other as if they were silently communicating and both nodded. “Done. Now that we have trained a new deputy, we both can take turns staying with her. She will be upset, but we know how to handle that,” Logan said with a grin.
Chase shook his head as he watched his brothers all leave the room. “Come on,” he told his team members, “let me show you to your room.”
He led Gavin and Angel down the hall to Logan’s old room. Now that Logan, Cane, and Duncan were all married, they all shared Duncan’s room. He watched as they threw their bags on the beds and surveyed the room.
“Get some rest, and we will work out a security schedule in the morning.” The two nodded, and Chase turned to leave. “Oh,” he said, stopping, “one more thing. She is seventeen, and she is my baby sister.”
Chase didn’t give them time to respond, but he did see the huge lecherous grins on their faces as he walked out of the room. He knew they wouldn’t harm his sister or touch a hair on her head while she was underage. Smiling, Chase decided to check on Kerri one last time before he got some rest himself. So much for a nice, relaxing vacation.
Chapter 4
A loud, obnoxious
noise brought Kerri out of a deep sleep. What the hell is that? She cracked her eyes open and looked around the bright room. She followed the noise until she got to Chase sitting at the foot of the bed in a chair. He had his feet propped up on the bed and his head thrown back, snoring. Damn, the man is loud. He could give a lawnmower a run for its money. She slapped a hand over her mouth to keep the laugh in. Poor guy. He didn’t look comfortable at all. Kerri wondered if he’d slept in the chair the whole night. If he had, he was probably going to be as sore as she was when he woke up. She laid there and assessed her body. She was sore from head to toe, and the bottoms of her feet were still tender. Her leg was still throbbing, but the pain was tolerable at the moment. Unfortunately, Kerri had to use the bathroom really bad. She hated waking Chase, but there was no way she was going to make it on her own. It took several tries for her to reach a sitting position in the bed. By the time she was up, she was out of breath and sweating. Her father told her she had lost a lot of blood, but she didn’t realize how much until now. The simple act of sitting up left her as weak as a kitten.
After catching her breath, Kerri looked up, only to find Chase staring at her. She cleared her throat. “Hi,” she said with a little wave. “I’m sorry I woke you, but I really have to use the restroom.”
She didn’t even have to ask Chase to help her. He just threw the blanket back and scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom on the other side of the room. I could get used to this. The thought flew right out of Kerri’s head when Chase sat her on the counter and lifted her hospital gown. She grabbed his wrist to stop him when he began tugging on the waistline of her panties.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked.
Chase cleared his throat a couple of times but wouldn’t look her in the eyes. She could feel the tension in his arms where she gripped his wrists and knew that he was just as uncomfortable as she was.
“I’m helping you. You can’t stand on your feet yet.” His voice was hoarse. “I would get my sister to help you, but she can’t lift you.”
Keri released her grip on him and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You just caught me off guard.”
She didn’t move as Chase gently lifted her and pulled her panties down to her knees. He lifted her off the counter and sat her on the toilet and walked out of the bathroom, all without looking at her or saying a word. Kerri smiled as she did her business. Who would have thought she could embarrass a big strong man like Chase. Surprisingly, Kerri wasn’t embarrassed as she should have been. She noticed that Chase left the door cracked, and once she was finished, she called out to him. He came in and efficiently slid her panties back into place and sat her on the counter again.
“I would really like to brush my teeth if you have an extra toothbrush.”
Still not saying anything, Chase began to rummage through drawers, looking for the toothbrush. Kerri frowned. He can’t still be embarrassed. What’s his problem? Trailing her eyes down his body, Kerri realized the problem. He was aroused, and judging by the huge lump in his sweats, Chase was big from head to toe. She reached up to wipe her chin as she continued to stare at Chase’s crotch. Damn, I wonder if I’m drooling. Chase hadn’t had time to shave, and the shadow of his beard growing in made him even sexier, if that was even possible. What would the scratch of his beard feel like against her breast or inner thighs? When she ran her tongue across her bottom lip, she heard Chase groan. That caught her attention, and Kerri snapped her eyes up to his. Chase’s green eyes had darkened, and she could feel the lust pouring off him. His voice was deep and raspy when he spoke.
“If you don’t quit looking at me like that, little bit, I can’t be held responsible for what I might do.”
Now it was Kerri’s turn to blush. She was embarrassed that he caught her staring. It made her feel good that he wanted her because she definitely wanted him. Maybe once she was back to 100 percent— hell she would even take ninety—then she would take him up on his offer.
Clearing her throat, she pointed to the toothbrush in his hand. “Is that for me?”
Chase held the toothbrush out to her and waited while she awkwardly leaned over the sink and brushed her teeth. When she was finished, he lifted her off the counter and began to carry her out of the room. Kerri glanced over at the huge whirlpool bath in the corner and sighed. A bath would be lovely, but with her leg and stitches, Kerri knew that was impossible. Hopefully she would have enough strength to clean herself up soon because the sponge bath she had in the hospital was not going to be enough.
Once Chase had her positioned on the bed and pillows stuffed comfortably behind her back, Kerri had a chance to look around the room. Obviously she wasn’t in the hospital anymore. Where was she? It said something about the meds that she was on that her surroundings were not the first thing she noticed when she woke up. Okay, no more drugs for me. She glanced over at Chase, who had taken his seat back in the chair at the foot of the bed. He looked slightly more comfortable, and Kerri attributed that to the fact that they were out of the bathroom and she was covered up.
Clearing her throat, she asked, “Where am I?”
“You are in my home. Your dad asked me to guard you, and I couldn’t do that safely in the hospital, so I brought you here.”
“Where exactly is here?”
“I live in a small town in Oregon called Pine Valley. My ranch is on the outskirts of town.”
“Ranch? You mean with cows and chickens and stuff?” Kerri said a little too loudly.
She was in shock. This man didn’t meet her image of a cowboy. He was too big. She imagined ranchers as tall, slim men in dirty jeans and cowboy boots. Chase was nothing like that, sitting here in his bare feet in sweats and a T-shirt. Although, I bet Chase would look great in a pair of tight, dirty jeans and boots and nothing else. Kerri smiled at the thought. Was it wishful thinking on her part? Or had Chase been honest in the bathroom when he said he didn’t think he could control himself? He struck her as a man who only spoke the truth. What would happen if he really did lose control? She imagined that it would probably result in the best night of her life. Kerri was so lost in thoughts and fantasies of Chase that she didn’t hear him call her name until he barked it out. From the worried look on his face, it seemed like he had been trying to get her attention for several moments.
“Are you okay, Kerri? You looked flushed. Are you in pain?”
The concern on Chase’s face made her feel bad. Here she was imagining all the dirty things they could do to each other, and he was worried about her. Deciding to be honest with him since he was honest with her in the bathroom, Kerri answered, “I’m okay. I’m not hurting that much, just really sore. I was flushed because of what you said about owning a ranch. I was imagining you as a sexy cowboy.”
She felt her cheeks heat up at the admission but couldn’t look away. The lust shining in Chase’s eyes held her captive. She had always had a small crush on him, but this was different. She wasn’t some gangly teen. She was a grown woman now. Kerri didn’t move when Chase stood and came to sit next to her on the bed. She held perfectly still when he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. His hand was so big that it covered the entire side of her face. She shivered, not because she was cold or frightened, but because his one touch sent tingles throughout her entire body.
Chase leaned in to kiss her but stopped before his lips touched hers. Kerri whimpered and leaned in the last inch to meet his lips. Just as her lips touched his, Chase pulled away and stood between her and the door. Shocked at the abrupt loss, Kerri stared blankly at his back. Evidently she had been too caught up in the “almost kiss” that she didn’t hear the knock on the door. Obviously Chase did, because a second later the door eased open. Kerri saw his shoulders relax when he recognized whoever was there.
He turned to her and smiled. “I will give you some privacy to get cleaned up.” With that he turned and walked out of the room, only stopping to kiss the girl standing at the door on the cheek.
The girl wa
s beautiful. She had long, black, curly hair and the same beautiful green eyes that Chase had. She was obviously related to him in some kind of way, but Kerri didn’t know how. She didn’t know anything about Chase’s personal life or family. The girl walked over and sat on the bed in the same spot Chase had just left and reached over to grab Kerri’s hand.
“I recognize that look on your face,” she said, smiling. “For some reason, the Matthews men have that effect on women.”
Unsure of what to say, Kerri just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Um…who are you?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m just not used to seeing my brother with that look on his face, and then I came in and saw the same look on yours. I just couldn’t be happier.”
Who is this chick? Why would Chase leave me alone with her? She obviously has some sort of mental issues. “Sorry, I’m doing it again aren’t I?” The girl squeezed Kerri’s hand and began shaking it. “I’m Alice, but everyone calls me Ali. I’m Chase’s sister. You will meet the rest of the family once we get you cleaned up and dressed. We would have met last night when you arrived, but you were knocked out. Probably the pain medicine.”
Ali shook her head as if she were answering her own statement and went into the bathroom. Kerri could hear water running, and Ali came back out carrying a large bowl in one hand and a bar of soap in the other. She sat everything on the nightstand and leaned over to remove the sheet covering her. Kerri was too busy eyeing the steam coming off the water in the bowl to care about the invasion of privacy. Oh, how good would it feel to sink into that hot water right now? Hearing Ali laugh, Kerri focused her attention back on her. Ali was still giggling.
Davis, Keyonna - Faceless Enemy [Pine Valley 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4
