“I didn’t have a choice.”
“So you say.” There was some movement to Cody’s left. Chris and Wally were finally making their way out of the webbing that Kinley had dropped down onto them earlier. Once they were free and able to help Cody, Jordan didn’t stand a chance of stopping them from taking Kinley.
“Get on the floor, Jordan,” Cody demanded.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad place to be. Jordan got to his knees, using his leg to hide the PDA. He scooped it into his hand.
“The formula is impossible to make,” Jordan informed Cody. “The lab tried for months and couldn’t do it.” He didn’t expect his former employee to believe that. Nor did he care if he did. Jordan needed the sound of his voice to cover the keystrokes he was making into his PDA, and once he was done, he eased the device back onto the floor.
Wally and Chris got to their feet and started to make their way toward Cody. Both turned, however, at the whirring sound. Neither knew what was coming.
“Kinley, get down!” Jordan shouted.
She did, thank God. Kinley dove toward him, just as the dummy bullets sprayed over them. Jordan had turned the training rifles toward them and had coded the signal for all to fire. It wasn’t a training exercise he used often, but he was damn glad it was in place now.
The shock and the piercing pain from the rubber pellets caused Wally and Chris to run for cover. Cody automatically turned as well, to shelter his face.
Big mistake.
Jordan grabbed his gun from the floor.
Cody whirled back around and aimed his own weapon at Jordan and fired. But he was a split second too late. Jordan fired first, a double tap of the trigger.
Shots meant to kill.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Jordan saw the startled look go through Cody’s eyes. It was probably wishful thinking, but he thought he saw remorse and regret as well.
Then Cody dropped dead to the floor.
The rubber bullets continued to slam into them. Kinley yelped in pain. She was obviously getting hit. Jordan was, too, but he had something else to do before he could stop the training exercise.
He turned, pointing his hand in Wally and Chris’s direction. “Drop your weapons and get on the floor,” Jordan yelled.
There was hesitation, and for one sickening moment, Jordan thought he was going to have to kill again tonight. But both men finally complied. Their weapons fell, they kicked them toward Jordan, and they got to the ground.
“Code in six-seven-three on the PDA,” Jordan instructed Kinley.
She did, and the assault from the dummy bullets stopped.
Jordan made his way to Cody and checked for a pulse. He found none. He then rifled through Cody’s pocket and located a cell phone. Without taking his eyes off Wally and Chris, Jordan tossed the phone to Kinley.
“Call nine-one-one,” he told her.
He heard her press in the numbers, and because the warehouse was almost deadly silent, he heard the ring. And he also heard the emergency dispatcher say, “What’s your emergency?”
What Jordan didn’t hear was Kinley respond to that critical question.
He glanced at her to see what was wrong.
And his heart dropped to his knees.
She had the cell phone cradled next to her ear, but her eyes were closed. She was ash pale.
Lifeless.
And there was a pool of blood around her.
Chapter Seventeen
The sound of voices woke Kinley. Jordan’s voice and several others that she didn’t recognize.
She forced open her eyes. Everything was blurry and she was woozy, but she could tell she was in a hospital. Specifically, she was in a bed surrounded by white walls, white floors and white bedding.
Kinley started to get up but came to an abrupt halt when she felt the jab of pain in her shoulder. And then she remembered.
She’d been shot.
The bullet that Cody had fired had ricocheted off something in the warehouse and had slammed into her shoulder.
“You’re awake,” Jordan said. He practically ran across the room to get to her. Behind him, she saw the massive Christmas tree that several orderlies were decorating.
Jordan leaned down and kissed her. Not some lusty foreplay kiss. But one so soft that it barely touched her lips. He was gentle, and judging from those lines on his forehead he was worried about her.
“Where’s Gus?” she asked.
“On the way. He should be here any minute.”
Good. That would be the best medicine for her. She put Jordan in that category, too. He could certainly cure a variety of ills, though he didn’t seem certain of that. That’s because he didn’t know how she felt about him.
He didn’t know that she loved him.
And that meant it was time to tell him.
Kinley tested her shoulder again. The pain was still there, but it was manageable so she tried to ease herself into a sitting position so they could talk.
Jordan stopped her.
With that same gentleness, he took hold of her arms and had her lie back down.
“I’m okay, really,” Kinley assured him.
“No, you’re not. You had to have surgery to remove a bullet lodged in your shoulder.” He paused, put his hands on his hips. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d been shot? Here I was ordering you to make calls, and I didn’t even look at you to make sure you were okay.”
Kinley knew where this was going.
Or rather where it’d already been.
While the doctors had been removing the bullet, Jordan had no doubt beaten himself up because he hadn’t been able to stop her from being injured.
She reached out and pulled on his hand to draw him closer. Much closer. She dragged him down so that he was sitting on the bed next to her. “You saved my life a dozen times in that warehouse,” she reminded him. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.”
“But I didn’t stop you from being shot.”
She smiled. It was probably a weary one and God knew how bad she looked, but it was heartfelt. “Jordan, you have some amazing qualities, but even you can’t stop a bullet from ricocheting and hitting my shoulder.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t careful enough with you.”
To stop him from continuing his guiltfest, she pulled him down to her for a real kiss. No whisper-soft one. Kinley kissed him as if he were the man she loved. Because he was.
“Women in hospital beds shouldn’t kiss like that,” he drawled with his mouth still hovering over hers.
She smiled. Though she wanted to continue this lighter banter, she heard a crash in the corner and automatically jumped and braced herself for the worst.
But there was no worst.
One of the orderlies who was decorating the tree had dropped an ornament, and it hadn’t even broken. Amazingly, the delicate-looking glass had hit the floor and rolled a few feet away.
“The tree was no doubt your idea?” she asked.
He eased back just a bit. “Since you have to stay here for a day or two and since it is Christmas, I thought you and Gus would like the tree.”
That brought tears to her eyes and reminded her that Jordan was a very thoughtful man. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
Her gaze left the tree and came back to Jordan at the same moment that he looked at her. “Cody’s dead,” he told her.
Yes. She remembered that. “You did what you had to do.”
He shrugged. “Cody used his remote control to get into the facility. That’s how he was able to set up those obstacles for us. If I’d figured out beforehand that he was responsible—”
Kinley grabbed him harder this time. Kissed him harder, too.
“I guess that means you don’t want to talk about Cody,” he remarked.
“Or maybe it means I just want to kiss you,” she joked. But he was right. She didn’t want to talk about the nightmare that had come to life in the warehouse. Unfortunately, though, she needed to kno
w if it was safe for her son to come home.
“Is the danger over?” Kinley stilled, trying not to cry. But she was afraid she’d do just that if they had to go on the run again.
“It’s over,” Jordan assured her.
Because he said it so calmly, it took her a moment for that to sink in. “Really?”
“Really.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and groaned softly in a where-do-I-start kind of way. “Martin Strahan has been arrested for Shelly’s murder.”
“How did that happen?” she asked, surprised.
“Lt. Rico brought in Pete Mendenhall, Shelly’s killer, and the guy made a deal. He’ll testify that Strahan hired him, and the D.A. will take the death penalty off the table. Don’t worry, though. Pete will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
And Strahan wouldn’t be able to terrorize them anymore. “What about Cody?”
“Anderson Walker, Chris and Wally have all confirmed that Cody put this plot together and hired them to help him. First, he wanted to get the formula just to collect the reward because he was riled with me for what he considered a betrayal for selling Sentron. But when he realized the formula didn’t exist and that he could potentially earn a fortune if it did, he decided to kidnap you so you’d make it for him.”
And now that Cody was dead, he could no longer threaten her. But someone else could.
Someone else who might believe she could create the formula.
Jordan reached out and smoothed his fingers over her bunched up forehead. “The FBI has put out the word that the formula was a sham, that it can’t be developed.”
The breath rushed out of her. “So, there’ll be no more attacks, no more attempts to use Gus to make me cooperate?”
“No more,” he promised.
She believed him. Besides, Jordan wouldn’t be bringing Gus home unless he was positive that her son would be safe. After all, he’d devoted the last fourteen months of his life to the child.
“What about your company?” she asked. “Will you be able to buy Sentron back from Burke?”
“I don’t want it back. To run it right, it would mean more eighty-hour workweeks. I’m thinking I’d like to create something smaller where I can hire some of the agents that Burke fired. Something more specialized. And less dangerous.”
Well, that certainly sounded good to her. They’d had enough danger to last them several lifetimes.
“All done,” one of the orderlies announced. The men gathered up the now empty boxes that’d held the decorations and went out the door.
Kinley spotted the gifts under the tree. At least a dozen beautifully wrapped boxes.
“For Gus,” Jordan volunteered. “I had to do something while you were in surgery, so I ordered a few things and had them delivered. I also had some presents brought from the estate.”
He’d done that so Gus would have a Christmas. Yes, Jordan was indeed thoughtful.
And much more.
She touched his face again so he would turn and make eye contact with her. “You gave up so much to keep Gus safe.”
“Yeah. But I got a lot more in return. I wouldn’t have you if it weren’t for Gus.” He paused and kissed her. “Do I have you, Kinley?”
Even with the pain meds making her a little woozy and the dizzying effects of that kiss, she didn’t even have to think about her answer. “You have me, Jordan. Any way you want, you have me.”
But then she stopped. Rethought that. And considered why he was asking. “Does this have anything to do with me getting shot?”
“In a way.”
So this was a pity reaction? She didn’t want his pity. She wanted him.
“When I came so close to losing you,” he explained, “that’s when I realized just how important you are to me.”
Important? Well, he was more than important to her. “I’m in love with you, Jordan.”
Yes, it was a risk. To a confirmed bachelor, an I’m-in-love-with-you confession might send him running, but Kinley didn’t want to go through another minute without telling him. That nightmare in the warehouse had taught her that every minute was precious and that life was too short to hold anything back.
He took a deep breath. But didn’t run. “You’re in love with me,” he flatly stated.
Kinley silently groaned and tried to brace herself for a rejection.
“Will you marry me?” Jordan asked.
Because she wasn’t expecting to hear that, Kinley had to repeat his question. Several times. However, once the proposal sank in, she didn’t have to think about the answer.
“Yes,” she said.
Still no reaction from Jordan. But then, she wasn’t reacting, either. They were both sitting there, holding their breaths.
Then he shouted, “Yes!” And he pumped his arm in a gesture of victory.
Kinley laughed, partly at seeing him so emotional and partly because she was overwhelmed with joy. “You really want to marry me?” she clarified.
He answered that with a kiss. It was long, hot and so Jordan. It was also the best way to answer because it left no doubt that he had marriage on his mind.
But what else did he have on his mind?
Maybe it was everything she’d recently been through that gave her doubts, but she had to wonder: Was this proposal for Gus’s sake?
In part she loved Jordan for everything he’d done for her son, but she didn’t want a marriage based on convenience for the sake of a child. She wanted a real marriage.
“Uh-oh,” Jordan grumbled. “You’re having doubts already.”
Unfortunately, yes. But she didn’t get a chance to voice them. That’s because there was a knock at the door and a split second later, it opened. Kinley heard Gus before she even saw him in the doorway with Elsa.
Nothing would have stopped Kinley from sitting up then and there. She wanted to give Gus a huge Christmas hug.
Elsa stood the boy on the floor, and with a big grin on his face, Gus began to toddle his way toward Jordan, who got off the bed and onto his feet.
“Jor-dad,” Gus squealed. But the little boy stopped when he spotted the Christmas tree. His soft brown eyes lit up. “Tris-mas.” And he clapped his hands, nearly throwing himself off-balance in the process.
Gus would have made it to those presents, too, if Jordan hadn’t scooped him up in his arms. “Those are for later, buddy.” And Jordan kissed him on the cheek. “For now, why don’t you say hello to your mom.”
“I’ll give you guys some alone time,” Elsa insisted. She stepped back into the hall and shut the door.
Jordan brought Gus to her, and even though those presents were still obviously distracting her son, Gus gave her a sloppy kiss on the forehead. But he got a concerned, curious look on his face when he saw the bandage on her shoulder.
“Boo-boo?” he asked.
“Just a little one,” Kinley assured him, smiling.
“Boo-boo,” Gus confirmed, and he leaned down and gently kissed the bandage.
Kinley’s smile turned to a few tears of joy. Both Jordan and Gus had magical powers when it came to her pain and her mood. Just being there with them made her feel as if everything was right with the world.
Well, almost everything.
There was still that issue of why Jordan had proposed.
Apparently no longer concerned with her boo-boo, Gus pointed to the tree again, and Jordan walked with the boy in that direction. Jordan picked up one of the smaller boxes, carried it and Gus back to her.
“This one is for you,” he told Kinley, and he placed the box on the bed beside her.
Surprised, she stared at him. “You found the time to get me a present?”
“I made the time.” Jordan stared at her, too.
Gus, however, sprang into action. He yanked off the lid and looked inside. “Ohhhh,” he said. “Pretty.” He grabbed whatever was inside and brought it out for her to see.
It wasn’t just pretty. It was beautiful.
Her son dropped the sparkly diamond en
gagement ring onto her lap and squirmed to get down, probably so he could head back toward the tree and the rest of the presents. Jordan let the child go, and while keeping an eye on him, he slipped the ring onto her finger.
“Well?” Jordan asked. “What about those doubts now?”
Kinley blinked back the tears, and not all of them were of the happy variety. “The ring is perfect,” she started. “Gus is perfect. So are you.” She shook her head and reached to take off the ring. “But I don’t want a marriage of convenience—”
“Good.” He caught her hand to stop her from removing the ring. “Because I wouldn’t ask you to marry me for Gus’s sake.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No way. I have an even better reason. I asked you to marry me because I’m in love with you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Her breath caught, and she hadn’t realized just how much she wanted to hear him say that. Kinley went into his arms and melted against them. “Then, everything is perfect because I want forever with you, too.”
No broken breath for Jordan. But there was a sigh of relief, right before he kissed her blind.
The man definitely had a clever mouth.
Jordan was smiling when he finally eased away from her, and they both automatically checked on Gus. He was ripping the paper from one of the packages. When he got through all the ribbon and paper, he struggled and finally pulled out a red plastic fire engine that was large enough for him to sit on and ride. That’s exactly what he did. With him in the driver’s seat, he scooted it across the tile floor.
“I think he likes it,” Kinley said, knowing that was an understatement. Gus was laughing and obviously enjoying his gift.
Kinley looked up at Jordan. “But I didn’t get you anything. There aren’t any presents under the tree for you.”
He made a show of looking disappointed and then tapped his chin as if in deep thought. “Well, let’s see. What can you get me? Not that,” he joked and gave her a naughty grin. “Well, not at this moment. You have to heal first. Then we’ll get married. And maybe next year, you can give me what I want for Christmas.”
“And what would that be?” she asked, moving in for another kiss.
Christmas Guardian Page 17
