by M. Malone
“Yes.” The older man who answered the door resembled the pictures he’d found of Banner’s campaign manager, Robert Dooley. He looked Tank over from head to toe, his eyes lingering on his blue jeans. His mouth puckered like he’d just tasted something sour.
“Tank Marshall to see Mr. Banner. I sent him an e-mail message earlier today.”
The man’s expression got colder if it was at all possible. “Mr. Banner isn’t here.”
“Tell him it’s about Hope. I’m sure he’ll want to know, Mr. Dooley.”
The eyes widened a fraction at Tank’s use of his name. “A moment, please.” The door shut in his face.
Tank leaned against the doorframe and waited. He wondered if Old Sour Face was really going to deliver the message. Then he heard it. A raised voice and the sound of a scuffle.
A few minutes later, Sour Face was back and holding the door wide. “Mr. Banner will see you now.”
You bet your ass he will, Tank thought. Can’t have anyone finding out about the dirty laundry.
He was led to a living room that was bigger than Tank’s apartment and took a seat on the sofa. Someone with an eye for fine things would probably appreciate it more, but to Tank it just looked like the kind of stuff you weren’t supposed to actually sit on. He took a mental note of everything in the room. Eli would definitely ask. What did you see? Who was there? Thorough was his boss’s middle name. Usually, anyway. He’d been different lately. Distracted.
He wasn’t sure what had happened to his boss over the past few weeks, but he hadn’t expected to be going in alone. Eli was usually a pretty scary SOB, so it was a huge deal that he trusted Tank to handle this interview alone. But he’d seemed different lately. More open. More human. He supposed the right woman could do that to you.
He liked Kaylee, too. She was a nice girl. He liked the way she looked at Eli. So he really wanted to get this right for her sake, as well. If this guy was the one threatening her, then Tank wanted a part in taking him down.
“Mr. Marshall. I wasn’t expecting you.” Timothy Banner emerged from the bedroom connected to the suite. Tank stood.
“I know, but there are some things better said in person.”
Banner inclined his head and then sat on the couch across from him. “I agree. I just don’t know what more needs to be said. I don’t have contact with Kaylee or… our daughter.”
Interesting, Tank noted. He either didn’t think of Hope as his child or he was purposefully trying to distance himself from her in his mind. Tank decided to go with the direct approach. He was a pretty good judge of character and could usually tell when someone was lying. If Banner had nothing to do with the threats against Kay, hopefully he’d be able to tell so they could move on.
“There have been some developments recently. Someone has been threatening Kay. She received a package recently containing something stolen from her apartment.”
Banner leaned forward. “That’s terrible. Is she all right?”
Tank dipped his head slightly. “She’s fine.”
At Tank’s continued silence, Banner sat back with a knowing smile. “I’m beginning to see why you’re here. I have no reason to hurt Kay. Things ended badly between us and that was entirely my fault. I was going through some things. But I’d never want to hurt her.”
“I understand, Mr. Banner. I’m not here to cause trouble. On the contrary, I’m here to prevent it. All I want is to be assured that you mean Ms. Wilhelm no harm. With your move into politics, you have motive to want her silenced. Especially running as a conservative.”
“What I’m about to tell you isn’t public knowledge.” Banner stood, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. “I’m running as an independent, but my platform is a conservative one. So it’ll be something of a shock to some that I’m running as the first openly gay conservative.”
Tank leaned forward. “Say what now?”
Banner gave him a thin-lipped smile. “I’m not worried about my image. Not in the way you think. I never planned to hide that I’d fathered a child. People who are scandalized by sex outside of marriage aren’t going to vote for me anyway.”
“Huh.” Tank couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Banner took a seat on the couch across from Tank. “Look. I’m sorry for how things ended with Kaylee. But her mother made it clear when I signed away my parental rights that they didn’t want anything from me and would prefer it if I stayed away.”
“I see. That’s all I needed to know. Thank you for your time.” Tank rose and Banner stood, too.
“If you see Kay, would you tell her I’m sorry about the way things ended and that if she needs anything, feel free to call.”
Tank nodded but didn’t make any promises. He wasn’t sure how Eli was going to feel about this visit. It was good to know that Banner wasn’t a threat, but that conversation had just wiped out their best lead.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KAY WALKED BACK and forth across the floor of the small bedroom for what felt like the hundredth time, Hope whimpering softly in her arms. Tank and Matt had been at the house, clustered around the dining room table with Eli for most of the day. Even Carly had come by with stuff for Eli from the office. Tank had left for a few hours and then come back again. Every time she entered the room they’d stopped talking, so she could only assume they were talking about her case.
She hated being kept in the dark. She had the right to know if she was in danger or if they’d found new leads. But she already knew what Eli would say, that he was just trying to protect her. Ugh!
Save me from alpha males, she thought.
Matt and Tank had finally retreated to their hotel around ten o’clock. Kay had hoped to finally get a little time alone with Eli, but Hope was refusing to settle down for the night.
Hope let out another whimper and rubbed her eyes with her fists.
“You are just determined to stay up so you won’t miss anything, huh?” Kay whispered.
They’d had a house full of people for the first time, and Hope wasn’t used to so much noise. She wasn’t either, come to think of it. She was an only child, and since it was just her and Hope, her apartment was usually quiet after nine o’clock in the evening. She’d assumed the baby was just cranky from being up late and being overexcited.
But the crying hadn’t stopped. Nothing Kay had tried so far had helped, between rocking her back and forth, singing to her, and rubbing her back. Kay wasn’t sure what to think. Each and every one of her daughter’s cries tore at her heart. Wasn’t she supposed to be able to know what was wrong? What if her daughter was ill and she couldn’t tell?
A soft knock sounded on the door before Eli’s head appeared. “Do you need some help?”
Kay wanted to say no. It was on the tip of her tongue. She didn’t really want Eli to see her looking like this, all frazzled and exhausted. But he must have seen something in her face that indicated just how close to the edge she was because he pushed the door open and came in.
Eli crossed the room and put his arms around her, enfolding Hope into the hug as well. Kay let out a sigh and relaxed back against his strong chest.
“You’ve been walking her for a long time. Let me try. You need a break, angel. Your arms have to be tired.” Eli’s lips brushed the shell of her ear.
Her arm muscles gave a slight twinge in agreement. She shifted Hope to the opposite hip. “It’s okay, you don’t have to. I think she’s just cranky from having so many unfamiliar faces around.”
Eli slid a hand between her and Hope, taking the baby into his arms as easily as if he was picking up a book. Hope curled against his chest immediately, snuggling her face into his shoulder.
Kay looked down at her clothes. She’d changed into a nightshirt before coming in to rock the baby. It was stained with drool on the shoulder and wrinkled in a million places from all the times Hope had grabbed it.
So much for romance, she thought. The sleep-deprived mommy look was hardly sexy.
“I’ll jus
t go make her a bottle. Maybe something warm will calm her down enough so she can sleep. She usually doesn’t take a bottle before bed, but I’m willing to try almost anything at this point.”
Kay walked down to the kitchen. She grabbed the baby formula from the pantry and added some distilled water from the refrigerator. She didn’t have a bottle warmer, so she heated it in the microwave, shaking it thoroughly afterward.
She tested the temperature on her inner arm, then shook the bottle again and did a second test just to be sure. On the way back to the room, she grabbed an extra baby blanket from the diaper bag. After she drank the bottle, Hope would need to be burped. It couldn’t hurt to have an additional barrier over her clothing in case she spit up.
In the hallway outside the room, she took a moment to pause, listening to the soft rumble of Eli’s deep voice through the door. Her feet were exhausted from walking the baby around, and she was so tired it was a wonder she hadn’t fallen asleep standing up. But at the very least, she knew she could take this last moment of calm because she trusted Eli had everything under control.
This must be what it was like to have a husband. Someone who loved you and whom you trusted completely so you could feel safe leaving your baby in their care. Someone to carry part of the weight.
Finally, she pushed the door to the third bedroom open slowly. Eli stood next to the window, talking to the baby in a low voice, his deep baritone rumbling across her worn and weary nerves. Hope was cuddled up on his shoulder, contentedly snuggled against his wide chest.
As the rumble of his deep voice carried across the room, Kay’s heart melted observing them. Her gentle warrior. She didn’t blame her daughter one bit for her fascination with Eli. She knew from firsthand experience that it was pretty much impossible not to feel safe when being held in those strong arms. When he saw her in the doorway, he waved her away. Startled, she backed out of the room and eased the door closed.
It looked like he didn’t need her help.
In the living room, she collapsed on the couch. She massaged the tender balls of her feet before propping them up on the other end of the couch. A ragged sigh escaped her lips. She would just rest her eyes for a moment. Eli would probably be out soon. Hope had looked to be halfway to la-la land already.
ELI WATCHED THE gentle rise and fall of Hope’s back, waiting until her breathing was deep and even before he moved closer to the playpen. After spending most of the day going over strategy with Matt and Tank, he was exhausted and had been looking forward to a beer and bed. Kaylee had looked just as wiped out after a day entertaining the baby.
It was amazing how such a tiny person could get into so many things. It was hard to stay in the house as an adult, so he could imagine the forced seclusion was taking its toll on the baby as well. He resolved to find a safe way to get them out of the house. Even if he took them to headquarters with him for the day, that would be better than being in hiding all the time.
He looked down at the baby and then smiled triumphantly. She wasn’t asleep yet, but she was almost there. She was a gentle weight on his shoulder, her fingers curled against his neck. So peaceful. So trusting. He had a real knack for this baby stuff.
Then she opened her mouth in a wide yawn and let out a high-pitched screech guaranteed to raise the dead.
“Oh no. Don’t do that. Please don’t do that again.” He bounced her gently, looking around the room for something to distract her. Unsure what to do, he picked up the small notebook on the dresser. Every page contained lines of poetry in Kaylee’s careful handwriting.
“Maybe your mom’s poetry will calm you down. Let’s try reading some. Would you like that?” She seemed to enjoy it when he talked to her, so Eli opened the book to a random page and started reading.
Don’t stay so far away from me
It hurts when you stay
It hurts when you leave
Don’t stay so far away from me
You, and only you
Are all that I need.
Hope stopped whimpering and relaxed against his shoulder again. A few minutes later, she was asleep.
Eli set the notebook down, then moved closer to the playpen, slow and easy. He eased her down, afraid to move too fast and jostle her awake. Remembering Kay’s words about the blankets, he didn’t cover her, just let her curl on her side. He’d accomplished a lot of things in his life, but none felt as monumental as coaxing a cranky baby to sleep.
This was what it truly meant to be a man. To have the love and trust of the people who needed you. He’d spend the rest of his days being the man they needed him to be.
He left the room, turning the knob all the way so the latch wouldn’t catch as he shut the door behind him. His breath left his lungs in a satisfied rush when the door closed without a sound. Now that the baby was asleep, he could have Kay all to himself. Maybe he’d get a fire going and see if he could get her down on that rug with him again. A little quality time with his woman was exactly what he needed.
He turned the corner into the living room. “Are you warm enough, angel? I can start the fire—”
Kay lay asleep on the couch, snuggled up with one of the accent pillows under her head. Her feet were bare and the nightshirt she wore had ridden up to expose the temptation of her thighs.
He bent at the knees and gathered her gently in his arms. Even in sleep, she turned to him so trustingly. Even in sleep, she reached out for him.
“Eli? Where are we going?” She asked the question even as she wound her arms around his neck.
He kissed the top of her head. “To bed, angel.”
He carried her to the guest bedroom, placing her on top of the comforter so he could pull her nightshirt over her head. His own clothes followed and then he had her under the covers, tucked against him. The bed in this room was smaller than his and for the first time, Eli was glad. Nothing could feel as natural as having the right to undress her and tuck her against his side.
He didn’t want to let her go.
USUALLY KAY WAS a pretty patient person, but as one week passed and then another, she finally broke down and begged Eli to get her out of the house. She’d caught up on all the back episodes of her favorite television shows, and she’d written several new songs. It had been time very well spent, but it still felt like she was stuck in some sort of time capsule, frozen while everyone else lived their lives unaware.
Eli had decided taking them along when he went to his company’s headquarters wasn’t too risky. He’d been absent longer than usual and there was apparently a ton of paperwork waiting on his signature. His phone rang incessantly, and she could always tell when it was Carly.
It was the only time he left the room to take his phone calls.
Kay pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind, determined to enjoy her first outing in weeks. Alexander Security Incorporated was housed in a moderately sized building in central Fairfax County. Kay leaned closer to the window to take it all in. She felt a huge swell of pride for the company Eli had built from the ground up. Especially since she knew he viewed his work as atonement for the mistakes of his past.
“I’m really sorry about this. Human Resources only needs me to meet a new employee and sign some documents. It shouldn’t take long. I wanted to get you guys out of the house, but I’d hoped to find something more fun than this.”
“Trust me, I’ll take it. We’ve been in the house so long I’m starting to forget what the outside looks like.”
“I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping you busy,” Eli said, reaching a hand over to caress her knee.
Kay grabbed his hand before it could reach its intended destination and squeezed it, satisfied when he gave her a lascivious look. “As much as I’m enjoying your distractions, we have to come up for air sometime. Plus, I want to see where you work. You’ve spent so much time following me around at my job, so turnabout is only fair.”
He grinned and put his hands back on the wheel. They pulled into an underground parking garage an
d followed it around, going lower and lower until Eli pulled into a parking space marked with red lines.
“I guess there are some perks to being the boss, huh?”
Eli grinned and got out. This time she knew enough to wait until he rounded the car and opened her door for her.
“There’re a few benefits, yes.”
She lifted Hope carefully into her arms, deciding to leave the car seat behind. They rode the elevator up to the fifteenth floor where he held the door so she could precede him. Directly in front of them was a gleaming glass-and-chrome receptionist’s desk.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Alexander.” The receptionist seemed startled to see them.
“Afternoon, Marcy.” Eli nodded and then turned to the right.
Kay followed him, conscious of the older woman’s curious stare. They passed cubicles and small offices. Most of them were empty, but they passed quite a few people in the hallways who spoke to Eli or nodded.
“This is my office.”
He closed the door behind them and led her over to this desk. It was a massive piece of wood with two black leather chairs in front. Kay sat down and shucked off her coat.
“I need to go down to the HR department. They just hired someone new and for management-level employees, I like to introduce myself right away since they’ll be reporting directly to me.”
“Well, you can go do whatever you need to do. I don’t mind waiting. Actually, if there’s anything you need me to do, just let me know. I want to be useful. In case you didn’t know, I’m pretty good at keeping Alexander men on task. Just ask Nick.”
Eli chuckled, his deep baritone washing over her, rumbling through her and leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake. “I believe you.” He gestured toward a stack of files on his desk. “If you’re determined to help, there is something you can do. I need these to be put in alphabetical order so they can be filed. Also, I need you to pull out the ones that have incident reports because I need to sign off on those.”
