by Cathryn Fox
“I’ll just be on my way, as soon as Summer gives me what I’m looking for.”
“Jack, I have no idea where—”
“Then you’re as stupid as your old man,” he says, and I feel Summer go deadly still, her breath coming harder, pounding against my neck.
I widen my stance, a predatory move that has Jack angling his body, ready to go on the defense. Fuck, I should have pressed Summer, found out who this douchebag was earlier and hunted him down before it ever came to this. Why the fuck didn’t she tell me how bad things were?
“I have what you’re looking for,” I say, wanting the attention on me, not Summer.
He smirks, his look dubious. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s fucking right.”
He lifts the gun, points it between my eyes and Summer makes a yelping sound. “And what might I be looking for, asshole?”
“Black journal. Lots of names and numbers in it. If it ever ended up in the wrong hands . . .” I stop to give a slow whistle. “Looks like a lot of illegal activity going on. I think there would be all whole lot of shit coming your way.”
His face hardens and he crooks his finger. “Hand it over. Or I’ll kill you, like I killed her father.”
Summer is shaking so hard behind me, it takes everything I have to concentrate on the gun and not turn around to console her. But I won’t let anything happen to her. I’d fucking die first. “Oh, you think I’m stupid enough to have it with me?”
He shrugs. “Hey, I’m not judging your intelligence, despite the buttfuck hole of a town you live in. So just hand it fucking over, or I’ll put one between your eyes.”
“You do and you’ll never find it.”
“I’m getting tired of this game.”
“I’ll take you to it.”
He smirks, slow and easy, and shakes his head, seemingly amused by me. Yeah, I might not be a naval lieutenant, but that doesn’t mean I’m without my own resources.
“Sure, but Summer rides with me.”
She tugs on my shirt. “No fucking way.”
“Look, this doesn’t involve you.” He waves his gun. “Hand her over, and I’ll make this real easy on you.”
“I never was one for easy.”
He stares at me, like he’s trying to decide his next move. “Are you really willing to get yourself killed for her? You think because she spread her legs for you she wants you?” His laugh is cruel and harsh and Summer quivers, her fingers gripping my shirt so hard, I’m sure she’s going to tear it. “You’re a fucking redneck from Buttfuck, asshole. Apparently you are as fucking stupid as you look. It’s called slumming, pal.”
“That’s not true,” Summer whispers.
“You got something to say?” Jack asks.
“How did you find me?”
“You’re not as smart as you think you are.” He laughs. “A chip off the old block though. You never should have taken off, Summer. You just should have cooperated. Now your friend Susie has to get hurt.”
Summer is crying behind me. “Jack, don’t—”
“Too late for that.”
“Why . . . how?” she asks, her voice boarding on hysteria.
“Little Susie called me last night. Reaching out to her was your first mistake. She made the second by calling me, worried about you. When I told her you broke your cell and I’d lost your number, she was happy to supply it. If you don’t want anyone else hurt, you’d better give me what I want.”
A burst of fury coils through me and my fingers curl into fists. If he’s telling her about her friend, then he has no intention of letting us out of this alive. If I didn’t think Summer would get hit in the crossfire I’d go straight for the guy’s throat. As my mind races, catalogs my next move, a truck slows down behind Jack’s car. I look past his shoulder, and feel a measure of relief when I see Jamie pulling to a stop behind the douchebag’s car. Jamie jumps from his truck and gravel crunches beneath his boot. From his angle he can’t see the gun. My brother has no fucking clue what kind of danger we’re all in. This is bad. So fucking bad.
“What’s going on?” he asks me.
Jack turns slightly at the sound, and acting purely on instinct, I rush him. No way is this douche going to hurt anyone I love. I kick the gun from his hand and land a hard one, right between his eyes. He goes down and I jump him, landing a few good right hooks to his face.
“Fucker,” he says as he tries to kick me off. We fight, and he cracks my nose so hard, I’m sure it’s broken. I shake my head as stars form, and he punches me in the gut, knocks the air out of me, and pulls a knife. He rolls me underneath him. I grab his arm, hold the blade inches from my head, but the fucker is strong. Jamie runs, and kicks the knife from the guy’s hand. Then the next kick is to the guy’s head, and it knocks him out and off me.
“Keep him down,” I say, and hold my gut, blood pouring from my nose as I climb to my feet. I turn to Summer, wipe my nose on my sleeve, and grab her hand, my main priority getting her to safety. “We need to go.”
She nods, and I glance back to see Jamie on top of the guy, pinning him to the ground. Jack definitely messed with the wrong family, and I’m glad it was my fighter brother who came to our rescue. Jack might be a navy man, but Tyler is a tough cage fighter. No contest.
Summer hops on the back of the bike without question. I turn on the highway and go full throttle, my engine screaming as I race through town, every head turning my way. It’s exactly what I want. Behind me Summer is holding on for dear life, but she doesn’t have to worry. My bike is an extension of my body and I know exactly how to handle her. I fly down the streets, draw tons of attention as I cut through yards, my childhood days flashing before my eyes.
In no time at all I hear the cries of a siren. Summer squeezes my stomach. “Officer Walker,” she warns.
If I wanted to I could have lost him, but him catching me is just what I had planned. I stop my bike and he climbs from his car, a look of victory on his face. He holds his hand over his gun.
“I knew it would only be a matter of time,” he says, but his smile falters when he sees the blood.
I help Summer from the bike and hold my hands up. “I have something you’re going to want to see. Something that’s going to put your name on the map.”
He eyes me, but he’s not a stupid man. “What are you talking about?”
I slowly reach into the back of my pants and pull out the ledger. He takes it from me and opens it. “What the hell is this?”
“It’s a ledger. Links to bank accounts and illegal activity, I believe.” I look at Summer who is as equally surprised as Walker. “I found it at the Wheeler cottage. I think this is what got Colin Wheeler killed.”
Walker’s eyes go wide. “What are you talking about?”
“My real name is Summer Wheeler, and my dad’s death wasn’t an accident,” Summer pipes up. “I’ve been on the run from my ex, Jack Kauffman.” She points to the ledger. “He was after that. He found me because I made a call to a friend,” she whispers, and looks at her feet. “She’s in danger now, too.”
“Who did you call?” Walker asks.
She gives her friend’s name and number.
“I’ll get an officer to her house,” he says, and grabs his radio. He calls it in, then his cautious glance goes from me to Summer back to me again. “Where is this Jack?”
“You’ll find him out on Highway 2. I believe Jamie has him detained.”
Walker slaps the book against his hand. “I want to see both of you at the station. Don’t think you’re going anywhere anytime soon.” I nod, and Walker jumps into his car.
I turn to Summer, my hands shaking so hard, my breath coming so fast, every emotion I’ve ever experienced hurling down on my like a big fucking eighteen wheeler.
I’m relieved, yet so fucking angry. How could she not have told me the danger she was in and why the fuck was she running away?
“Jesus, Summer.” Her head jerks up at the gruffness in my voice. I’m so fu
cking mad, I’m practically spitting nails.
“Why did you make a fucking phone call?”
“I . . . I wanted to figure out how to help you get your permits. I didn’t think she’d call Jack. I’d been so careful, Sean.”
I step away from her and suck in a sharp breath. Tearing fury rockets through me and I pace, running my hands through my hair, needing to punch something again. My gaze flies to her face, and anger takes hold. What if something had happened to her? My blood runs cold, penetrating my bones.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Summer. You put yourself in danger because of me. Don’t ever fucking do that again.” I pull my hair and kick at a rock. “Do you have any fucking idea how scared I was?”
“Sean . . .”
“You should have told me.” I stop directly in front of her and her eye go wide. I take a moment to consider what she sees: a big fucking intimidating guy who is spitting mad at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was my problem not yours.”
I shake my head, so fucking lost in her. An invisible band squeezes my heart. I love her. I fucking love her and I protect those I care about. I protect what’s mine. If she doesn’t know that by now—doesn’t realize that I’ll kill or be killed for her—it can only mean one thing.
She’s not mine—and it’s time we stop playing house.
Chapter Fifteen: Sean
Three weeks has passed since I last saw Summer. After Walker took Jack into custody and questioned us, she disappeared, gone from Blue Bay in a flash. I only have myself to blame for that. Fucking asshole, I should have held my anger, shouldn’t have lashed out at her the way I did. But I was so fucking angry that she didn’t open up to me, trust me enough to tell me the kind of danger she was in. Now I’m angrier with myself.
I never pushed for answers and I played along with her fucking game, even calling her Jenna. I never should have done that. I should have gotten to the bottom of matters right from the start. Why didn’t I? Oh, maybe because I’m an asshole and waited thirteen long fucking years for Summer to came back into my life and would have done anything she asked to keep her in it.
I stand inside her cottage and glance around at the finished floors and repaired wall. I run my hand over the new plaster. All that’s needed is a fresh coat of paint. I step back, and Scout circles my feet. “I know, girl. I miss her, too.” I look around, mourn Summer’s absence, and work to ignore the hollow ache inside me. But the house feels fucking lonely without her.
I step into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. As I drink, my gaze goes to the sign I had Jared make when I thought Summer and I had a future together. It was my way of moving past the lies, but I never did give it to her.
A noise at the door heralds someone approach and I turn to see Gram. I love her, but I’m not really in the mood to talk to anyone. I’ve been pretty much holed up in the cottage since Summer left, finishing the work, despite the fact that she’d taken off for good.
“You did a great job,” Gram says as she examines the floor and the walls.
“Thanks,” I murmur feeling very little pride in the work.
She eyes me, and I brace myself. “Are you done sulking?”
“I’m not sulking.”
She waves her hand at me. “I know sulking when I see it, Sean.”
I push my hair off my face, every muscle in my body tense. “Gram . . .”
She holds her hand up to stop me and I go silent. “Haven’t you had enough loss, Sean?”
I set my coffee cup on the counter and fold my arms. “She left, Gram. It was her decision. I had nothing to do with it.”
“You don’t think.”
My mind takes that moment to race back to the cruel words I shot at her. I was so angry, so worried that Jack was going to hurt her and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. I fist my hands and press them against my eyes.
“I was scared,” I finally admit. “For the first time in my life I knew what real fear was.”
“I know, Sean. But I also know she loves you.” My hands fall, and Gram smiles.
“How do you know that?”
“She still looks at you today the same way she did all those years ago when you were racing through the streets and Officer Walker was chasing you.” Gram gives a small laugh. “You really did give that man a run for his money.”
True, I did. Walker locked Jack up, but he and his files were handed over to the NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, since it was a military case. The investigation is still ongoing, and after the news went national, and ran for days on CNN, Walker and I made an easy truce. News crews were here all week, but Walker ate that shit up. Me, well I just wanted to be left alone. Same as Summer. They camped out at her place, and she couldn’t come or go without a camera in her face.
It’s hard to believe Jack had been using Summer to find a ledger her father had hidden in the cottage. A ledger that identified all the men involved in using U.S. Navy ships to transport illegal cargo. Thank fuck the cops got to her friend Susie in time. Her house had been ransacked, Jack’s men had been hunting for her, but she was working the night shift at the hospital and they hadn’t gotten to her.
“Did you know right from the start Jenna was Summer?” I ask.
She nods. “Of course. But the big question is, why are you still here, Sean?”
I looked around the kitchen. “I started the job and I wanted to finish it,” I say, my stomach sinking, sick to think the place will be abandoned for another thirteen long years.
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” She picks up Scout, gives her a good rub behind the ears.
“Yeah, I know.” What she’s really asking is why I’m still here in Blue Bay and not in SoCal fighting for the girl I love.
“What if she doesn’t—”
“Okay, come on, Sean. When have you ever given up without a fight?”
“Never,” I say. So why the fuck am I doing it now? My blood rushes faster and I ball my fingers as I curse myself. She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved, and I should have left a week ago. What if I’m too late? What if she’s already moved on without me? Urgency moves through me, and my breath comes in a burst. “I need to go.”
“I know.”
I step up to Gram, give her a kiss on the cheek, but when I turn, ready to jump in my truck, and do whatever the fuck I need to prove to Summer that we belong together—even drive to her place in a damn minivan—my feet come to a resounding halt.
No. Fucking. Way.
I stand there for a moment, too astonished to breathe. “Summer,” I finally say, my brain barely able to keep up as she brightens the doorway and lightens my dark mood.
“Sean,” she says, and behind me, I hear the patio doors opening, and closing, Gram leaving with Scout to give us our privacy.
“I was . . . just . . . on my way . . .”
Her look is tormented as she tears her gaze from mine. “Can I come in?”
“It’s your cottage,” I say, and wave my hand for her to enter. She steps in, her eyes wide, appreciative as she takes in the finished floor and wall. “Everything looks beautiful.” Her gaze goes to the sign Jared made. SUMMER WHEELER, CHIROPRACTOR.
“Can I get you a coffee?” I say for lack of anything else.
She gives me a small smile. “If that’s what you insist on calling it.” She follows me into the kitchen, and every nerve in my body is alive. I can’t believe she’s here. Did she come back because we had unfinished business? Or is she here to pack up her belongings and disappear for another thirteen long years?
I pour her a cup, put a splash of milk in it and hand it to her. She takes a sip and when she winces my heart soars with the love I feel for her.
“I . . .” we both begin at the same time.
“You go first,” I say. She nods, pulls something from her purse, and hands it to me. “What’s this?”
“The permit for the Cassidy house.”
I try to swallow past the lump in my throat.
“Is this why you came back? To give me this.”
“Yes,” she says and I turn from her. I look out the kitchen window, take a deep breath. “But it’s not the only reason.”
I spin back around. “No?”
She walks up to me, and holds her hand out. “I’m Summer Wheeler,” she says. “I’m a chiropractor.” He gaze goes to the sign. “But I guess you already know all that.”
My hand swallows hers whole as I take it into mine. “Sean Owens,” I say. “Motocross racer turned handyman.”
“Handyman, huh?”
“Yeah.”
She takes my hands and the clean scent of her soap washes over me. “So you’re good with your hands.”
Need gathers in the pit of my stomach as she touches me. “I am.”
“Confident, I like that.”
I stare at her, take in the vulnerability in her eye and my heart squeezes so tight in my chest, my throat closes over. “Summer, what are we doing?”
“We’re starting again, Sean. The way we should have started a month ago.”
I brush my thumb over her cheek. My heart crashing so hard in my chest, it rings in my ears. “Why didn’t you tell me how much trouble you were in? You know I protect what’s mine.”
“I didn’t know I was yours,” she says quietly.
I shake my head, and briefly pinch my eyes shut. “How could you not know that?”
“I wanted it so much, Sean. I wanted you. Your family. I wanted it all. But I was scared. I was too scared to tell you anything because Jack’s contacts ran deep. He and his army friends are a brotherhood, and I didn’t want anything to happen to you or your family. I could never live with myself if anyone of you got hurt because of me.”
I take in the shadows under her eyes. She doesn’t look to be sleeping any better than me. “You were protecting . . . me?”
“Yes.”
As all the pieces come together, I nod. “Okay,” I say. “I get it, but you do realize I can protect myself right, and I come with my own army.”
She gives me a wobbly smile. “Yes. I realize that now.”
“Why did you leave?”
