by Brenna Lyons
Eric laughed heartily. “Oh, that’s a good one. I’ll have to file that one away for future use.” Matthew appeared in the doorway, and Eric rose and offered his hand to the older man. “Mr. Keating, it’s an honor to meet you.”
Matthew shook his hand uncertainly. “It is? I would think it should be the other way around.”
“No, I didn’t do much, but you raised this incredible woman.” Eric winked at Kyla. “With her temper and sarcasm, that couldn’t be easy.”
Matthew blushed. “It’s had its moments, but I have a lot more to thank you for.”
Eric looked at Kyla and Joe and smiled. “No, you don’t owe me a thing.”
Matthew didn’t understand the inference, and it showed in his face. “I know. We decided not to discuss that, but you have my gratitude anyway.”
Eric nodded. “Did she learn her hand to hand combat skills from you?”
Matthew shook his head, and the two men sat down. “Not guilty. She just had a fondness for being a tomboy.”
“Well, she’s all lady now unless she needs to be otherwise,” Eric informed him.
“Were you asleep at Gram’s?” Joe interrupted him. “I seem to remember a few times where she knocked me on my ass to teach me a lesson.”
Kyla sighed. “As I recall, I was provoked or surprised. As tense as I was, either one was a dangerous move.”
Matthew looked at them, and Joe could see the concern rising.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’d never raise a hand to her, and typically, she wouldn’t to me. It was more a demonstration that she didn’t need or want a mother hen. I limped for a few hours, but she really only hurt my pride.” Joe smiled at Kyla. “And I never saw it coming.”
Matthew nodded and smiled weakly. He looked back to Eric. “Well, welcome to our home.”
They talked for the rest of the evening, and Eric raved about dinner. At his request, Kyla made savory toasted cheese again. This time Joe tried it and ate two helpings. Eric raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.
They talked about the wedding, the plans for the house, the fact that Eric would always have a place there, temporarily or permanently, and the better times at Gram’s. They carefully avoided the rest.
Molly sat on Eric’s lap and chattered to him until her bedtime.
After Molly was tucked away, they talked about more serious things. Matthew looked at Eric. “When did you meet Kyla for the first time?”
Eric looked confused at the question.
“You said she had injured ribs ever since then.”
Eric nodded in understanding. “We weren’t formally introduced until I helped get her to Gram’s. Before that, I was just a face in the crowd.”
“I don’t understand,” Matthew persisted.
Kyla raised a hand to still Eric. “Gram told me she hired a bodyguard. I never knew she hired a team of them until later. As it was, it was hard for me not to give Joe away. It would be geometrically more difficult as there were more people to try not to draw attention to.”
Eric nodded. “As much as Joe would have loved to be her only protector twenty-four-seven, that type of work is very draining. Gram arranged the occasional relief so he wouldn’t burn out.”
Matthew smirked at Joe. “You would have loved it, huh?”
Joe felt his cheeks getting hot. “Well, yes. I have to admit I had a certain fascination for Kyla before she ever gave me the time of day.”
Kyla cut in. “I always meant to ask why you didn’t act on it sooner.”
“It was unprofessional. I knew I had lost my objectivity. I thought Gram would fire me if she knew. I thought you’d be offended. You never gave me any indication that you would be welcoming to the idea. In short, I thought I’d blow any chance I had if I went for it.”
“What did happen with Gram? All that time, she was playing human roadblock. Then she was pushing us together. I know I missed a step somewhere. I just don’t know what I missed.”
Joe smiled. “I admitted out loud that I was in love with you to her. I don’t know what difference saying it made. It was fairly obvious, but saying it made the difference to Gram.”
“Maybe she wanted to be sure, and she knew you wouldn’t say it unless you meant it?” Kyla offered.
“No, I think it was more complex than that. Maybe that she knew I had given up on love entirely, and she knew I really believed in it again?”
Kyla smiled. “That sounds like Gram.”
Matthew looked at Kyla. “What finally made you give Joe the time of day?” he asked.
Joe noticed that she fiddled with her hands for several seconds before meeting her father’s gaze. “I was on my way home from work, and I got knocked down by a purse snatcher. Joe saved the day. From the first time I looked in his eyes, I knew—”
“You were mugged and you never told me?”
“That would be an accurate assessment.”
“Why?” Matthew asked hopelessly.
“Because you’d try to insist that I move home, and my only defense would be something along the lines of, ‘Gee, Dad, I would but I have this bodyguard that I never told you about because there’s a chance that someone’s trying to kill me. Besides, if I leave, I think I’m going to screw up my one chance to end up with someone I love.’ How does that sound? I didn’t think you’d like it all that much.”
Joe wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. “I never knew it was that fast for you. I think I kind of like that it was.”
Matthew cut in more calmly. “The whole time you were trying to push Joe away, you thought you were screwing up your one chance at true love and you still did it?”
Kyla nodded. “I didn’t think it. I knew it. I was miserable, and I made Joe beyond miserable. Given the options, I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Joe smiled. “You’ve more than made up for that. I think living through it was punishment enough.”
“At least, we worked it out.”
Joe glanced at Matthew. “The best thing we ever did was agree on one thing. No more secrets. I think that ended our problems.”
Eric nodded his agreement. “It was a long, hard road, but you two are stubborn.”
Kyla gave him a hard look. “You certainly weren’t helping things,” she observed.
Eric feigned a shocked look. “Who? Me?”
Joe laughed. “Yes, you. I could have happily throttled you a few times in those first few weeks. If you were any of the others and not my best friend—”
“I imagine your new property would be sporting a shallow grave. I know. I’m used to giving orders. I’m used to people finding me intimidating. How was I supposed to know what her reaction would be?”
Kyla laughed. “By the second or third time, I typically find that people figure it out.”
Matthew feigned a shocked look this time. “You gave her orders and lived to tell about it? I am impressed. You’re either very brave or very skilled.”
Joe smirked at Kyla. “I lived, but how come you knocked me on my ass and never did that to Eric?”
She reddened. “I’m ashamed to admit that it’s a combination of two things. First, whether or not you ordered me around on a regular basis was more important to me.”
Matthew interrupted. “Because you love him and you couldn’t live like that anymore?”
Kyla nodded.
“What was the other reason?”
“I wasn’t sure Eric wouldn’t hit me back.” Kyla glanced at Joe.
He burst into gales of laughter.
“Horrible, huh? I hit you because I knew you wouldn’t hit back?”
“Had you not been perfectly justified at any time, I might have considered turning you over my knee, but more likely, I’d have tickled you unmercifully.”
Eric burst into laughter at that one. “Maybe you should have. She might have stopped playing games and gotten down to business a lot sooner.”
Kyla turned a deep crimson, and Matthew glanced at her with a glint in his eyes
.
“Which means?” he asked her.
Joe shot Eric a hard look, and Eric cleared his throat. “The first time they ever kissed was after a rather raucous tickling bout,” he supplied.
Joe felt Kyla relax into his arms.
Matthew grinned crookedly at him. “What did she do to deserve the tickling?”
“She put ice down my back as I was putting a DVD in. I originally planned to grab her and return the favor, but I found out how ticklish she was when I grabbed her and changed plans,” Joe explained.
Matthew laughed and looked at his daughter. “That probably made you sorry for the ice,” he commented.
Kyla shook her head. “Joe made his move, so it was worth it.”
Joe didn’t miss Matthew’s look of astonishment. Kyla wasn’t exaggerating when she said that night was completely out of the ordinary for her.
Chapter Thirty-seven
June 29th
Joe’s cast was ready to come off. Kyla wanted to go with him, but he had other ideas. He had a few errands to run, and Josie was going to drive him on them after his appointment.
Kyla was disappointed, but she understood that Joe had things to get done in the next week, as she did. She loaded Molly into her car and headed for the house.
Almost everything was done. The last few loads of donations were on the way out, and the last of the boxes from her apartment were in place for her to unpack. Kyla unpacked the last few boxes of clothing, which finished the downstairs work. After the empty boxes were tossed onto the back porch, she turned to Molly.
“Let’s go shopping.”
“For what?”
“You’re my flower girl, aren’t you?”
Molly smiled.
Two bridal shops, a shoe store, and a few children’s clothing stores later, they headed home with shoes for each of them, a veil, and a dress for Molly.
Josie’s car was still gone, and she felt a pang that Joe wasn’t there. Kyla sighed. He must have had a lot of errands to run. She berated herself for feeling so down, but she couldn’t seem to shake the funk she was in.
They were halfway down the hall to the stairs when the feeling hit her solidly. “Oh, no,” she breathed.
Molly looked at her strangely. Kyla tightened her grip on her sister and edged back toward the front door. If they could reach it, they would be safe outside.
The trapped feeling was getting stronger. As they came up on the living room doorway, the attack came. Kyla felt the crushing arms around her, and she hurled Molly toward the stairs.
“Hide in the office.”
Molly disappeared from view, as a second man bolted from the doorway. Kyla found it hard to breathe, let alone fight. The man behind her was stronger than she’d thought.
The second man grabbed her arm, and Kyla felt the pinch of a needle. She threw her arm to the side and gritted her teeth at the ripping sensation. The syringe flew free. Kyla couldn’t tell if the wet sensation on her arm was blood or whatever was in the syringe, and she didn’t wait to make the distinction.
She swung her right knee up into the groin of the man in front of her. As he crumpled, Kyla planted her feet on his chest and pushed as hard as she could. The man behind her hit the wall, but he didn’t let go. She pushed off again, and heard the grunt of pain as she knocked the man behind her solidly into the wall.
He lost his grip. As his hands slacked away, Kyla planted her feet on the floor and vaulted toward the stairs. She could hear them swearing viciously behind her as she took the stairs two at a time.
They were already on the stairs when Kyla slammed and locked the office door. She manhandled the desk in front of it and looked around for something heavy.
Matthew’s golf clubs met her searching gaze. She’d owe him a club when this was over, but it would be worth it. The glass of the case shattered beneath her swing, and Kyla pulled out the loaded shotgun.
Kyla grabbed the phone off the cradle. It had a dial tone. “Amateurs,” she muttered, as she dialed 911 and set the open line down on the floor.
She looked at the gun. Dad told her there was a safety she had to disengage first, but she couldn’t see it.
She was out of time. The two men pounded furiously at the door.
Kyla reached out an image of the shotgun. “Joe. The safety? Where is it?”
She could feel his panic. “What’s wrong?” His sick realization that Kyla knew nothing about guns, that she hadn’t had an interest in learning to shoot one, even when Joe offered to teach her, almost stopped her cold.
“No time. The safety?”
“Under your fingers.”
Kyla flicked the switch and pumped a shell into the chamber. Then she disconnected. She needed her concentration.
“You know what that sound is,” she screamed at the men outside the door. “If you try to get in, I’ll fire.”
The men mumbled to each other for a moment. One of them spoke. “You didn’t have time to load it. She’s bluffing.” He hit the door so hard the wood around the lock splintered and the desk rocked back half an inch with the impact.
Kyla shook away the tears in her eyes. She had hoped they would back down. As she raised the gun, she aimed at the edge of the door at shoulder height. Kyla hoped it was her least chance of killing someone. The shotgun recoiled into her shoulder, sending curls of smoke-like pain through her chest. She was holding it wrong.
The section of the door she hit buckled. An six-inch section evaporated and a larger section surrounding it pitted and fractured.
Kyla sat down heavily. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the injection or the shock of the man howling outside the door.
“The bitch shot me,” he screamed. “When I get in there, I’m going to kill you.”
Kyla found it hard to concentrate. She pulled herself between the filing cabinet and the gun safe. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that before from better than you,” she muttered.
The man hit the door again, and Kyla pumped the shotgun.
That time, they backed off. “Don’t sweat it,” the other man commented. “I got enough of that shot in her. She can’t hold on for long.”
Kyla risked addressing them directly. “Long enough. You’re not too bright, you know. You should have disabled the phone before you attacked me. Waters and his men are on the way.”
“She’s lying, right?” the first man asked.
“Check it,” she invited them. Kyla felt the overpowering urge to throw up. She swallowed the feeling and waited.
The house was quiet for several minutes. She could hear the men swearing again, but they were moving away as they did it.
“This isn’t over yet,” the injured man yelled back at her.
“You’re right,” she managed. “It’s not.”
* * *
Leo was halfway home when the cell phone rang. “Waters,” he snapped into it.
“Waters, it’s Rodriguez. Your girl’s in trouble again. Better get there fast.”
Leo threw up the light and switched it on at the dash switch. “What’s up?” he asked as he changed directions toward Matthew’s house.
“911 call. Someone broke in. They think she shot one of them.”
“Damn it! We pulled out too soon. I’m on my way.” Leo hung up and threw the cell phone onto the seat beside him. Even at top speed, it took him almost twenty minutes to reach the scene. It was still in turmoil.
One man was being loaded into an ambulance. Even from his vantage point, Leo could tell he was cuffed to the gurney. He didn’t seem to be in bad shape. In fact, he was still fighting the EMT and the police officer who hovered over him.
Leo pulled in and bolted to the door. He could see a squad car pulling out with a second suspect. The man sulked in the rear seat.
A uniformed officer stopped him at the door. “I’m sorry. You can’t go in.”
He handed the younger man his ID and badge.
“Oh, Detective Waters, go right up. They
’re waiting for you.” He moved aside.
Leo didn’t ask what they were waiting for. He started down the long hallway to the stairs. At the living room doorway, a member of the forensics team was placing a broken syringe in an evidence bag. There was blood on the side.
“What have you got?” Leo asked him.
“We don’t know, yet. One of our guys is rushing this to the lab. We have to. Those bozos got some of this in her.” He shook his head.
“Where is she?” Leo snapped.
“Upstairs. She won’t let us near her. She’s waiting for her family or some cop named Waters.”
Leo stared at him. “Why?”
“We don’t know. She keeps saying she doesn’t trust us. She’s waiting for someone she trusts. If she’d just pass out, we could get to her, but she’s drugged and armed. Overall, that’s a bad combination.”
Leo nodded and headed for the stairs.
“Where are you going?” the other man asked.
“To get her out. She trusts me,” he called back.
Two officers were flanking a shattered door. Leo ordered them back to the top of the stairs.
“And who are you?” one of them demanded.
“I’m Waters. Get that gurney to the foot of the stairs. I’ll have her out in a few minutes.”
The younger men nodded and disappeared.
Leo knocked on the hard wood. “Kyla? Kyla, it’s Waters. Let me in.”
“Waters?” Kyla sounded confused. He hoped she hadn’t waited too long. God only knew what was in that syringe. He heard a crash from inside the room.
“Kyla? Are you all right? You have to let me in, or I’ll have to break in the door.”
“Molly.” At first, he thought Kyla was delirious, but then she continued. “Molly, unlock the door,” she asked.
As the lock snapped open, Leo realized why she’d waited. Even if Kyla was beyond caring for herself, she wouldn’t put Molly in danger. When the girl’s pale face stared up into his, Leo motioned for her to go downstairs. Molly bolted down the hall.
Leo pushed the door further open. The room was in complete disarray. The door was a loss. The phone still lay on the carpet, though Kyla had hung it up at some point. A sour puddle lay next to it. Leo walked around the desk.
