“You’re going to be in the open.”
“So is Mott.” Callan looked at her with those slate-gray eyes behind the aviators. “We don’t have time. They have the edge. This is all we have.”
Torn, Eryn nodded. Just as she was about to pass the Camaro, she cut across traffic, stomped the brakes to tear the tires free of the street, then pulled hard on the wheel and feathered the accelerator to keep the car spinning. She’d learned the procedure in a defensive driving class she’d taken while getting her security license.
The car’s speed diminished greatly, but she still couldn’t believe it when Callan stepped out of the car and strode toward the Camaro. The car finally came to a stop and she slid the transmission into Park. She opened her door and stepped out, but followed Callan’s instructions to stay with the vehicle.
Gripping her pistol in both hands, she stared in amazement as Callan strode like an Old West gunman across the thirty feet separating him from Dylan Mott and one other surviving member of the kidnapping team.
Shots rang out and Callan staggered, once, twice, but he started firing, too. Dylan Mott stood outside the Camaro, using it as a shield. That didn’t last long. One of the shotgun blasts caught him in the face and he jerked back and fell. Callan’s next shot struck the other gunner in the chest and put him down as well.
By that time, Sierra Ballard had hauled Jenny out of the car and held her in front of her as a shield. A small pistol gleamed in her fist. She yelled in a near-hysterical voice. “Stay back! Stay back or I’m going to kill her!”
Calmly, as if he had all day, Callan racked the shotgun’s slide, changed hands with it and dropped the weapon to one side. He drew one of the pistols. He never broke stride. He never said a word.
To Eryn, Callan resembled an Old World avenger, emotionless and lethal. He didn’t look anything like the man she’d made love to only that morning. Watching him, watching the cold-blooded way he went about his business even with his sister’s life on the line, Eryn was afraid she’d never see that soft part of him again.
Especially not if something happened to Jenny.
Eryn kept her pistol trained on Sierra. If the woman fired, at either of the targets in front of her, Eryn knew she was going to kill Sierra.
Callan kept walking. His gaze never wavered from Sierra. Eryn was surprised that Callan hadn’t already shot the woman, then she realized that Callan was afraid that even dying the woman would manage to get off a shot.
Five feet away, Sierra’s nerve broke. With a horrifying screech of frustration, she yanked the pistol from Jenny’s head and pointed it at Callan. She snapped off two shots in quick succession before Callan dropped her with a single bullet.
He stood there swaying, looking at his sister, guns in both his hands. After a moment, she ran to him. Callan dropped the shotgun to the street and wrapped his arm around her. He held on to her.
Eryn’s throat hurt and there were tears in her eyes. Then something thumped in the Camaro’s trunk. Eryn walked over and reached inside the sports car to open the trunk.
When the lid lifted, Eryn gazed down to find Daniel Steadman, bloodied and bruised, lying in the trunk. His hands were cuffed behind his back and a gag was in his mouth.
Using her picks, Eryn unlocked the cuffs then removed the gag from his mouth. By that time Jenny had seen him and had run over to be with him.
Excited and scared and feeling some kind of wonderful she’d never felt before, Eryn looked over at Callan. He stood there unsteadily, bleeding from at least three wounds, his left shoulder, his right thigh, and just above his collarbone where the vest hadn’t covered. He started to nod, then he faltered and dropped to one knee.
Eryn ran to him. “Callan!” She wrapped her arms around him, lending him her strength. “Callan!”
He looked up at her and smiled. “You did good.”
Eryn tore at his shirt. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s okay. Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”
“Your breath! You could be dying.”
He shook his head. “I’m not gonna die. I’ve been shot before. This isn’t going to kill me.”
“It had better not. You had better not die. You had better not leave me.”
Callan cupped his hand behind her head as she knelt with him. “I’m not going to leave you, Eryn. I just found you.” He reached around her and held her fiercely. Feeling the strength in him, that undeniable determination to live, Eryn knew it was true. She clung to that as the neighborhood filled up with screaming sirens.
Epilogue
Three days later, after Callan was released from the hospital and most of the legal problems had been resolved, Eryn sat in the audience of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Steadman’s wedding. The best man looked a little battered and worn in his sling and the bandages on his face, but Eryn thought he was the handsomest man in the room.
Later, at the reception, Eryn stood with Callan at the back of the room. He looked slightly gray, but he was holding up.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go back to the hotel?”
Callan shook his head. “This is my sister’s wedding. I’ve missed a lot of other things in her life, but I’m not going to miss this.”
“They’re going to honeymoon in Vegas for a week before they take off to Hawaii. You could visit later.”
“No.” Callan looked at her and ran his free hand through her hair. “I’m glad you came.”
“Hey, I helped save the groom, right? I deserve cake.”
Callan laughed. “You deserve a lot more than that.”
“And you’d better believe I’m going to get it, mister. One day at a time.”
For a moment they stood there in comfortable silence. Jenny and Daniel were a beautiful bride and groom and they deserved the limelight.
“I hear all the legal charges have been dropped.”
Callan nodded. “Evidently the Steadman lawyers are very good at what they do. And it helped that they found evidence of blackmail, drugs and other criminal activities at the Invincible offices. The cops weren’t quite so eager to prosecute. I also hear you still have a job at CyberStealth.”
Eryn smiled and nodded. That had been especially satisfying. Seeing the look on Arthur Briggs’s face while the media had been touting her as a real, live private eye hero had been immensely entertaining.
“Not only do I still have my job there, partly because of the Steadman family’s interest in buying shares in CyberStealth, but I was promised a raise.”
“Congratulations.”
“But I don’t think I’m going to take it.”
Callan raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve heard a lot about Texas, but I’ve never been there.”
“It’s a big state.”
“That’s one of the things I heard. I’ve been talking to Mr. Steadman, after he graciously thanked me for saving his son’s life.”
“You did that.”
“He pointed out that family is important, and I tend to agree. He suggested I might want to relocate to Texas and go into business for myself. He guaranteed me plenty of work.”
“Generous man.”
“He says there will be a lot of work. Not only does he have children, but he plans on having grandchildren as well.”
“And he’s ambitious.”
Eryn smiled at Callan. “I’ve also been talking to Jenny. She and Daniel plan to start a family quickly, so the demands of personal protection for the Steadman brood is already multiplying.”
“I guess so.”
“Jenny told me she wants to be a mom, the best mom she can be. But the only way she feels she can do that is to have the best uncle in the world. I graciously pointed out that you were all they had, but maybe you would pass muster.”
Callan hesitated at that. “I haven’t been around families in a long time.”
“Then maybe it’s time you started.” Eryn put her arms around his waist and held him tight. “I’m actually thinking about taking on a part
ner at my new security business. Interested?”
Callan gazed at his sister, who was busy chatting with her friends and adoring her new husband. Then he turned his attention back to Eryn. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.” And he leaned down and branded her with a kiss.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0957-2
BEST MAN FOR THE JOB
Copyright © 2011 by Meredith Fletcher
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Best Man for the Job Page 21
