Banishing Shadows

by Lorna Jean Roberts

  “He wasn’t there. What were you doing out of the truck?” he snapped. “I told you to stay put.”

  Kayla watched him worriedly. He was pale, his forehead creased in a frown.

  “Nash, what happened to you? And where the hell is Quinn?” She had to bite back a sob.

  “Quinn wasn’t there.”

  “Nash!” she yelled.

  “I was shot. It’s okay. Had worse.” His words were clipped, tense.

  “I didn’t hear a gun,” she replied, trying to still the panic racing through her. She pulled off her sweater, ignoring his order to put her seatbelt back on, and knelt in the seat so she could hold the bunched-up material against his shoulder.

  “They had a silencer. Sit back down,” he barked.

  “No. Pull over and let me drive. You need to go to the hospital. Shit, I need to call the police. Who shot you?”

  “Couldn’t see the bastard. Was worried he was going to get to you before I could. Call Cord. Tell him to meet us at the hospital.”

  She pulled her phone from her pocket, fumbling as she attempted to use it one-handed.

  “It was foolish of you to leave the truck, Kayla. I can take care of myself and you. But you have to do what I tell you to do.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Tears ran down her face.

  “Hey now, sugar,” he murmured. “It’s all right. Just call Cord.”

  * * * * *

  Over an hour later, Kayla sat in an empty waiting room, chewing at her bottom lip nervously as she and Cord waited for news on Nash.

  “I’m leaving.” Kayla gulped, wishing the words back even as she voiced them. She bravely looked over at Cord as he turned, his face stony while his eyes raged. She barely resisted the urge to flee the waiting room.

  Suddenly he was looming over her.

  “Excuse me?” His voice was low and all the more frightening for it. She stiffened her shoulders.

  “I’ve decided to move to Savannah. A friend from school lives there. I’ll be leaving as soon as possible.” The sooner the better as far as she was concerned. She couldn’t take the risk of anyone else getting hurt because of her.

  Cord’s bark of laughter was alarmingly absent of amusement.

  “Angel, you take one step out of this room without me and I will handcuff you to me until we’re both gray and wrinkled.”

  Kayla’s jaw dropped at his words. She clenched her hands into fists. “You just try it, mister. This is my decision. I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You have no say in what I do. This is my life.”

  “I have no say in anything you do? So it’s not me you turn to when you’re frightened? Is it not my arms that comfort you after a nightmare? Is it not my name you scream aloud as you come? You tell me you love me then turn around and say you are leaving? Dream on, Kayla. I know what you’re doing and it won’t work. I protect you, not the other way around.”

  Kayla was grateful there was no one else in the waiting room. Nash was in surgery having the bullet removed from his shoulder. He’d lost a lot of blood by the time they’d arrived at the hospital.

  She had to convince Cord that in order to keep him safe, to keep her brothers safe, she had to leave. But she’d known he wouldn’t let her go without a fight.

  Cord wrapped his powerful hands around her shoulders, easily holding her against him as he whispered in her ear, “Who are you trying to kid here, Kayla? Me or yourself? Because I can tell you right now, it’s not working on either one of us. I am not going to argue with you about this. You are not leaving. You try it. See what happens.” The fury and hurt in his eyes shamed her and her shoulders slumped.

  “I know,” she whispered, her voice nearly disappearing under a wave of emotion. “But I can’t stay here, Cord. If anything happened to my brothers or you…I would never forgive myself.” Tears filled her eyes. As much as she didn’t want to leave him, she could think of no other way to keep him safe.

  “You’re stronger than this, Kayla. Strong enough to stay and fight with me.”

  Kayla hung her head. “I don’t think I can.” She was so tired.

  Cord grunted with impatience as he shook her none too gently.

  “You’re just tired. This won’t last forever. We’ll find whoever is doing this. I promise. Come on, Kayla, you’re tough. You have courage, more than most people. Running is not the answer.”

  Her head rose as she scowled at him, shaking off his hold. “I’m not running. I’m trying to protect those I love.”

  “Ahem.”

  Kayla whirled around to see Luke, Quinn and Joe. She took off, throwing herself into Quinn’s arms. She’d been so worried about him she’d felt ill.

  “Where have you been?” she cried. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Joe ran his hand over her shoulder as she clung to Quinn. “Kayla, even if Cord was foolish enough to let you go off on your own, we’re hardly going to let you leave, now are we?”

  “And if you try, we’ll track you down, hogtie you, and lock you in your bedroom until you’re thirty,” Quinn said bluntly.

  Joe sent him a quelling look.

  “If you don’t want to go home with Cord, honey, you can come and stay with us,” Joe suggested. “Either way, you can’t leave. You cannot be by yourself.”

  Kayla’s shoulders slumped. She was outnumbered. But she couldn’t deny the relief coursing through her. The idea of being alone terrified her. Only the thought of something happening to someone she loved scared her more.

  No way was she moving in with the twins. Even if she wasn’t in danger, she couldn’t live with Quinn for more than forty-eight hours without one of them exploding. Only Joe had enough patience to live with his twin.

  Kayla let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, I’ll stay,” she agreed.

  Cord turned to Quinn. “What happened? Why did Kayla get a text from you asking you to pick her up? Where the hell were you?”

  Boy was she glad she wasn’t Quinn right now.

  Quinn growled. “It wasn’t me. My phone went missing. I didn’t realize it was gone until late afternoon. I figured I’d find it at the office tomorrow morning. I left the site on Eel Avenue around four thirty. I had to pick up some things for the morning on the way home. I can’t find it anywhere.”

  Cord swore harshly. “So whoever this is has access to you. Knew where you would be working this afternoon. Probably knew that Luke and Joe were across town. This is someone who knows you.”

  “Or someone who’s been watching us closely,” Joe said quietly, frowning.

  Cord blew out a breath. “They had access to Quinn’s phone. They must have taken it from his van or the office. They knew he’d be at Eel Avenue and they knew when he left. Yeah, someone is watching you. It could be someone who works for you.”

  Kayla’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s ridiculous. Pete and Evan would never…and Reed, he’s a nice guy.”

  “Pete’s worked for us for years. Evan, for the last eight months and Reed…” Joe trailed off.

  “Reed or Evan. They’re both relatively new. How much do we really know about them?” Quinn paced as he talked.

  Cord rubbed his forehead. “We need to find out where they were tonight.”

  “But why would Reed or Evan hurt Kayla?” Joe blew out a breath. “We have no evidence against either of them.”

  Luke leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on his knees. “I vetted them before they were hired.”

  “And I checked their backgrounds. It was one of the first things I did. And don’t rule out Pete. As far as I’m concerned, everyone is a suspect.” Cord leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. “I’m going to look into them again.”

  Kayla’s stomach lurched at the idea that quiet Evan or friendly Reed, a man she’d had dinner with for God’s sake, could be behind all this.

  “Wait, I had dinner alone with Reed, he could have hurt me at any time then,” she protested.

  “You’re right,” Cord grow
led, glaring at her. “I’m still going to look at all of them again.”

  Clasping her hands tightly to hide their trembling, Kayla sat on an uncomfortable waiting room chair.

  “But why? I’ve done nothing to any of them.”

  “Maybe it’s not about you. Maybe it’s about one of us,” Joe theorized.

  “You all need to think about this. Who would have quick access to your phone, Quinn? Whoever this is, we know he isn’t afraid to hurt people. He shot Nash. We have to find him—them. Yesterday. Damn it, if it is one of them that means I’ve missed something.” Self-loathing tainted Cord’s words.

  Quinn frowned. “But they were all there the night Kayla was attacked at The Rusty Hammer. Could it be someone else, maybe a client? Or one of the other contractors we work with?”

  “How would they know where all of you would be?” Cord argued. “How would they know that Luke and Joe wouldn’t be close by when they sent that text to Kayla?”

  “If it was a client they could have accessed my computer perhaps?” Kayla offered.

  “Maybe. I checked your current clients. Nobody stood out. I’ll double-check. Especially the ones who hired you to do Eel Avenue and the site Joe and Luke were at today.”

  Quinn paced. “What about new clients? Or someone who just came in to get a quote?”

  Cord turned to Kayla. “Have you left anyone alone in your office lately?”

  “I-I don’t know. Umm, let me think. I don’t think so, sorry.”

  Cord sat beside her, pulling her against him. “Hush, it’s okay. I’ll find them. I promise.”

  “I’m so sorry this happened to Nash. Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?” she asked. “This is my fault. I wanted to go pick up Quinn. Nash thought something was wrong and he didn’t want to stop and investigate. I made him. I endangered his life.” A sob escaped as her head dropped again. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cord pulled her onto his lap, holding her close. “Why are you being so hard on yourself? Nash didn’t have to do anything. He made the decision to check for Quinn. He was in charge of your safety. It is not your fault he was shot. None of this is your fault.”

  Kayla shook her head silently, blinking back tears.

  Cord’s hands clasped her face, his touch gentle despite the lingering anger she saw in his eyes.

  “What’s going on in your brain? Talk to me, angel.”

  Though his voice was gentle there was no mistaking the firm resolve. He wasn’t backing down.

  Kayla let out a sob.

  “We’ll go get some food,” Luke said and the three of them quickly left the room.

  She took a deep breath. “If I had just insisted on going with Nash, maybe I could have stopped him getting hurt.”

  “Or you could have gotten hurt. Angel, you did exactly what you should have. Nash knows what he’s doing.”

  She wasn’t so sure. She figured she should have been the one to get shot, not Nash.

  “T-there’s something else I haven’t told you,” she whispered.

  “Like what?”

  “Like I left the truck to find Nash.”

  “You did what?” he yelled.

  “I was worried about him and Quinn. I felt so sick, sitting there, waiting.”

  “Jesus. That was a really stupid thing to do, Kayla. Listen to me. You have to let Nash and me do what we’re trained for. You could have been shot, killed…” He appeared ill.

  “I’m tired of feeling afraid. I want to live a normal life. I want to be free to go where I want and not be terrified someone is going to shoot at me or someone I love. I should leave. I know that. But I’m too afraid to be on my own. How selfish am I?”

  “Angel, I want you to look at me while I say this, because I want no misunderstanding between us.” Kayla forced herself to stare into his intense gaze.

  “Everything that has happened is not your fault. I want you to stop thinking this way immediately. Do you hear me?” Kayla nodded slowly. “No one blames you, least of all Nash. Got it?”

  “Okay.”

  “And you will have a normal life again, I promise.”

  “I can’t believe someone shot Nash. Why would they do that?”

  “Because they knew they’d never get through him to you. They were probably expecting it to be me.”

  “I just— I want to hurt them the way they’ve hurt Nash. I hope they go to jail for a long time.” Anger raced through her veins and she embraced it, letting it push out the fear. If they had hurt Cord there would be no stopping her. She wouldn’t rest until she found them.

  “You should have done exactly as Nash told you and stayed in the cab of the truck. He’s stronger, tougher, he’s trained for this. You’re not. Kayla, if anything happened to you…” He trailed off, and Kayla grabbed him tightly.

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  Cord pulled her onto his lap to hold her tightly. “God, one moment I feel like spanking you until you can’t sit for a week, the next I just want to hold you in my arms and never let you go.” He shook her. “You’re giving me gray hairs! Do you hear me?”

  A throat clearing had them both turning to find a plump nurse standing in the doorway. “Mr. Nash is awake now. He’s very insistent on speaking to you both.”

  She showed them to Nash’s private room, leaving with the admonishment that they be quick.

  Kayla approached the bed slowly.

  Nash stared up at Cord, his eyes sleepy. “I fucked up, man. No excuse for it.”

  “You couldn’t have known.”

  “Had a bad feeling, should have listened to it,” Nash slurred his words. “Thought I saw someone. He was shooting from the roof.”

  Cord’s face was grim. “I’ll check it out. Go to sleep. Soon as you’re better I need you back guarding her.”

  “You got it.” Nash tried for a salute. Instead he clumsily hit himself in the eye with his hand.

  Kayla giggled then slapped a hand over her mouth. But she found herself suddenly unable to stop. The laughter kept bubbling out. Cord pulled her into his arms and carried her into the hallway, rocking her until she calmed.

  “Take me home, please?” she asked quietly. “I-I just want to go home and have you hold me.”

  “Angel, you read my mind.”

  * * * * *

  Exhaustion tugged at Kayla as she walked into the motel room. Before she could sit, Cord had her hand in his, tugging her into his arms. One arm settled around her waist, the other clasping the back of her head, holding her close. She nestled in against him, relaxing bit by bit within the safety of his arms.

  Kayla laid a kiss on his chest.

  “You could have been shot.” His voice was stark.

  She leaned back—not far, he wouldn’t let her—and peered up. Shadows lined his face, darkening his eyes.

  Kayla placed a hand on his hair-roughened cheek. “I’m all right.”

  “If anything happened to you…”

  Leaning down, Cord kissed her. A hard kiss that screamed of possession.

  “Nothing can happen to you, Kayla. You hear me? I just got you and I’m not letting go. Ever.”

  Kayla rubbed his chest, trying to soothe him. “Nothing will happen to me. How could it? I have you to protect me.”

  “You mean the world to me.” He massaged her bottom and she shivered. Exhaustion faded as heat rushed through her.

  “Like that, angel?”

  “I like everything you do to me,” she replied. Her breath caught in her lungs as he rubbed against her, a hard bulge digging into her stomach.

  “Do you know what I’ve been dreaming of doing with you?” he whispered.

  “No, what?” Her pussy clenched at the sensual promise in his voice. What did he dream about? Laying her over the back of the couch and entering her from behind? Leaning her against the wall and taking her standing up? Him sitting on a dining room table while she rode him? The possibilities seemed endless.

  “Dancing with you.”r />
  “Really?”

  He chuckled. “Really.” His hands ran down her arms. “Think about it, our bodies brushing against one another, building the anticipation, driving us wild. I want to slow dance with you.” He stepped away and turned on the stereo. Music filled the room as they came together, swaying.

  Kayla hadn’t realized that something as simple as dancing could be so arousing. Her skin tingled where it brushed against his.

  She was caught in a tangled web of heat and desire. He twirled her away before tugging her sharply back. She fell against his chest and he caught her close.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered. “So soft and delicious.” He ran his palms over her back.

  Nuzzling at his chest, Kayla wished they were both naked. She craved the feel of his skin against hers. As if he’d heard her, he took a step back and slowly undid the buttons of her shirt. He drew it over her shoulders, leaving her arms caught in the sleeves as he kissed the top of her breasts.

  “I could spend hours loving these breasts.”

  “Hmm, I like the sound of that,” she gasped. “Just not tonight.”

  “No,” he agreed, tugging her shirt off and throwing it across the room. “Not tonight.”

  “Cord,” she moaned. She was being consumed by arousal. Each time he brushed against her pussy, her clit throbbed mercilessly. Reaching around, he unclipped her bra, freeing her breasts. Her nipples grazed his chest as he tugged her close once more.

  “Hungry, angel?” he asked. His mouth descended to nip sharply along her shoulder and neck and her knees gave way, a whimper of sheer rapture passing through her lips.

  “Yes. Please. I need you, now.”

  “But I’m only getting started. Don’t you like dancing with me?”

  She grabbed his t-shirt, tugging it over his head.

  “More than I can say. Too much,” she panted. “I’ve never danced like this before.”

  “Good,” he growled, dipping her suddenly. Her head spun. He drew her back up and kissed her hard. He grinned as he moved his hand between them and cupped her mound. “Are you wet, baby?”

  Kayla drew in a shaky breath. His thumb rubbed her clit through her pants, electricity firing through her blood. The sensations riding her were delicious, decadent, and yet it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.